'Big A3' May 1973

lSp

MAGAZINE OF THE DEPT

OF ARCHITECTURE, Q.U . B.

LOOKING FOR A SILVIR LINING (?)

COVER:

DETAIL OF THE PALAIS IDEAL OF FERDINAND CHEVAL

The Three Giants - Caesar, Vercingetorix and Archimedes - the guardians of the Palace, are tall figures of lime and sand encrusted with red and blue-grey flints, and are considered by Cheval to be "somewhat in the Egyptian manner". The Tower of Barbary rises behind.

BIG A3 was designed and edited by Paul Larmour

AAH ••• BELFA~Tl

Just if the troubles were to stop t the Phoenix from the ashes? goodies include old-time delights, some of which are already (not only by bombs); Lower Crescent ed), The Palmhouse, Botanic Gardens ch~ing little memorial fountain oJ Theatre (if isolated from its Surrol Bridge.(thankfully renewed), La Gra. Mysterleuse (also threatened), Cast: get into it), Smithfield (threal architecture!), and goodie, a brand new grand, super-speed motol ular scale, emblazoned across the ci rid of all the people in it. . of car parks wherein to depc wlth and whatnots carried upon motor tioned, a delightful programme of rE we :an judge by recent progress?), s cub~cles for living for super-plann. . ••• exciting new shopping centres, w swe~ps shoppers off their feet, play you re lucky enough to find workmen swings etc., in spite of being "pesll •••• new housing deteriorating long economically designed-for life.

It's like a sum if you do away wit! the result is o. :t's not positive determine to make a s". Even if it, to do away with barbed wire, barrier walls and bombed buildings in one fe would be left - conglomerated rows 0 housing, lack of play areas and open back streets, more desolate areas wh dozers have had their fun, redevelop' swap your former neighbours for a bal hidden anonymity in multi-cellular c, and promises of a rosy future from tl Executive? Trees, plants, flowers al frivolities are forgotten in the rac, the redevelopment ladder. A quite d, gr~und ~n ~elfast (in an area where 'I qu4te dl.fhcult to find) was killed ( for a car park for those noisy, smel: but unfortunately such convenient con Where have all the flowers gone? Sh Or have people just forgotten. WherE architecture gone -didn't it have som with design - art even? To do with P "Is not life made of beauty and song? bricks and mortar!) Life is .•••

•••• Happenings, toys, games, stimula~ to fall over, things to moan about, t: around laughing at, things to be gaze We need 3d off's, climbing up walls, streets - mm, colour - the painters 0: can't keep up with all the newly form~ flowers - anywhere or everywhere. all, scale: people, embassies, empresarios: of cramped streets to make roam for ID' sky, small scale, sympathetic redevel, housing and town centres, and rehabil. work chairs, awnings, yawnings, exclw inexclusive be-ins, trendies, paraph~ gnomes in the garden and music in the' environment that people might (if we : prayers) respect, decide to look aft~ (ama~ing thoughtl) contribute to them,

A Marilyn Monroe statue by Andy Warho: Hall, John Gilbert type inflatable tor. ?n the top of the Europa Hotel, publi( lnstead of motorways (I don t t own a c" white pneumatics to enclose the School ure.Outrageous?

Yes, exactly! outr people out of environmental apathy : 0 of that comes tH pretending to be fl them, and burned-ou or uninteresting, unen areas where the only signs of life are kids who make up for it by being extra (i.e. troublesome).

In areas of new housing, first on the priorities should be landscaping and s shops, , pubs and social centn cream everybody as'well as the h What an opportunity' for a new city - ff revo~ution - Utopia from the debris. utopl.a - or everybody's utopia (?) - c: chaos a planner t s nightmare!. Or pe, control with res, and more peoples

Perhaps one day (hopefully) the barrie, will be museum pieces.

----~~

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.1IfI'

LOOKING FOR A SILVIR LINING (7)

Author :.!nknown

Just if the troubles were to stop tomorrow, vhat of the Phoenix rising from the ashes?

Existing goodies include delectable old-time architectural delights, Some of which are already being done in (not only by bombs); Lower Crescent (to be demolish­ ed), The Palmhouse, Botanic Gardens (threatened), a ch~ing little memorial fountain opposite the Lyric Theatre (if isolated from its surroundings), Shaw's Bridge (thankfully renewed), La Grande Palace Mysterieuse (also threatened), Castle Lane (if you can get into it), Smithfield (threatened), playbuses (instant architecture!), and goodies yet to come .••• a br~nd new grand, super-speed motoI~ay of spectac­ ular scale, emblazoned aCroSS the city (once they can get rid of all the people in its way) and deserts of car parks wherein to deposit the where­ vith and whatnots carried upon motorway aforemen­ tioned, a delightful programme of redevelopment (if we can judge by recent progress?), super-planned cubicles for living for super-planned people.

•.•• exciting new shopping centres, where the wind sweeps shoppers off their feet, playgrounds ••. if you're lucky enough to find workmen who will install swings etc., in spite of being "pestered by kids" .••• new housing deteriorating long before its economically designed-for life.

It's like a sum - if you do away with the negative the result is o. It's not positive unless you determine to make it s~. Even if it were possible to do away with barbed wire, barriers, turnstiles, valls and bombed buildings in one fell swoop, what conglomerated rows of obsolete would be left housing, lack of play areas and open space in the back streets, more desolate areas where the bull­ dozers have had their fun, redevelopment where you swap your former neighbours for a bathroom and hidden anonymity in multi-cellular complexities •••. and promises of a rosy future from the Housing Executive? Trees, plants, flowers and such like frivolities are forgotten in the race to the top of the redevelopment ladder. A quite delightful play­ ground in Belfast (in an area where playgrounds are quite difficult to find) vas killed off to make way for a car park for those noisy, smelly, pol-luting, but unfortunately such convenient commodities.

Where have all the flowers gone? Sinful novelties.

Or have people just forgotten. Where has all the architecture gone -didn't it have something to do with design - art even? To do with people and life?

"Is not life made of beauty and song?" (not even bricks and mortar!) Life is ••••

I•

•• •• Happenings, toys, games, stimulation, things to fall over, things to moan about, things to roll around laughing at, things to be gazed at in wonder.

We need 3d off's, Climbing up walls, colour in the streets - mm, colour - the painters of King William can't keep up with all the newly formed gables!. flowers - anywhere or everywhere, all on a grande Scale: people, embassies, empre.sarios, Clearing of cramped streets to make room for more sun and sky, small scale, sympathetic redevelopment of housing and town centres, and rehabilitation, iron­ work chairs, awnings, yawnings, exclusively, inexclusive be-ins, trendies, paraphanalia, kitsch, gnomes in the garden and music in the air - an environment that people might (if we say a few prayers) respect, decide to look after, or even (arna~ing thought!) contribute to themselves!!!!.

,

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A Marilyn Monroe statue by Andy Warhol next to City Hall. John Gilbert type inflatable tomatoes growing on the top of the Europa Hotel, public gardens instead of motorways (I don't own a car!), black and white pneumatics to enclose the School of Architect­ ure.Outrageous?

Yes, exactly! - o~trage to shake people out of environmental apathy - a negative acceptance of everything that comes their way - be it barren barracks pretending to be flats, or waste ground left,around them, and burned-out empty houses

in sordid, mean or uninteresting, unentertaining areas where the only signs of life are grubby looking kids who make up for it by being extra lively (i.e. troublesome).

In areas of new housing, first on the list of priorities should be landscaping and shops (corner shops, please?), pubs and social centres and ice­ cream for- everybody - as' well as tl,c houses.

What an opportunity for a new city - environmental revolution - utopia from the debris. Somebody's utopia - or everybody's utopia (?) - comprehensive chaos a planner's nightmare!. Or perhaps modified and more co-operative control with respect to peoples freedom?

P~aps one day (hopefully) the barriers and bombs will be museum pieces.

EXCUSE ME HAVE YOU GOT THE 'REAL' TIME Keith Hilton 'Reality' in schools of Architecture programmes has almost become a pre-requisite for accepta­ bility. That is reality as far as location, brief and client are concerned. There are obvious arguments that support this attitude. It is easier to relate to the demands of a 'real' problem and it would follow that the motivation to solve the problem will be higher than in a more hypothetical situation.

'Jnfortur:1itely few design programmes can bf: '1'£<11' in the sense that the tirre available woulo very rarely equate with the 'rEa.l f time

allowar~ce

in

practice. Very f .... building~ go through the Gesign process from brief preparation to the £r.d cf production information in less thar, fifte€ ; , months. (or the equivalent of twc consec"Jtive academic years!) The most frequent ccmplaint then, concerning design programmes, is that the time allowed is 'urxealistic'. This must nearly always be the case unless the project is very small. TheI'e are also natural fears that th is lack of tirr.e may result in students developing a superficial attitude to design problems .

However it does not follow that a shallow atti­ tude will automatically result from not being able to devote the full or 'real' time to a project. In fact many architects and designers would agree that time spent on a design appears to work on a law of diminishing returns when related to the amount learnt. That is, when a new project or area of study is encounteree, the basic problems can be appreciated and to a large degree resolved in a relatively short period of time. Therefore if programme times were, for example, doubled, it certainly wouldn't follow that the educational value to the participants would be doubled - even when allowing a reasonable procrastination factor! Unfortunately the feeling that there is a shortage of time can lead to students graspipg the first solution, however half-formed, and drawing it up in the fear that a better alternative-solution might ;,ot be reached in 'time f

•

The ability to reject and rethink is an extremely important aaset to an arch.itectural student and is a characteristic of many of the Detter known architects. The idea that complete buildings appear to ar-chitects as in a vision, must be one of the biggest myths of our profession. Emphasis then should be placed on the process rather- than the end

PORTRUSH RAILWAY STATION:

A CASE FOR INVESTIGATION

J.D.C. Charlton

"Railway termini and hotels are to the nineteenth

century what monasteries and cathedrals were to the

thirteenth century. They are the only real repre­

sentative buildings we possess ••. Our metropolitan termini have been leaders of the art spirit of our time" Building News, 1875.

Berkeley Deane Wise was civil engineer for the

Belfast and Northern Counties Railway between IBBB

and 1903, when the Midland Railway took it over,

remaining in charge until 1906 when he retired

through ill-health. During this period he produced

a number of prOlific designs for stations, from

large termini to ~odest halts. He did not design

a rigid type of station which could be repeated

over and over again but always changed the style

and adapted his detailing for new buildings. It

has been suggested that the Midland were influen­

cial in these stations but in fact only one was

finished after the takeover, this being BaUymena

station, 1903-4, having been started before the

takeover. The Midland in fact put the damper on

station renewal.

Wise used red bricks and timber as his medium in hoth "mock Tudor" and Scandinavian style designs, the former typified by Carrickfergus and Glynn, and the latter by Trooper.tane halt, with ornamental wood carvings and high pitched roof, and the con­ course buildings at York Road Station comprising bookstalls which were removed to the Ulster Folk Museum in 1968 and excellently restored, and booking office and station bar, removed by the 1. R. A. in 1972.

Wise's finest work was undoubtably Portrush Station, built in 1893, the 'mock Tudor' style, featuring a clock tower which dominates the square for-med by the station, the town, and a row of shops with an open vista to the harbour and sea on the other side. The refreshment rooms, which projected from the main facade, wer-e demolished four years

result. However, a process without ~end result may well be of very questionable value! The fact is that the edUcational objectives of a programme may differ from the 'real' demands contained within the programme.

'Realism' can even obstruct educational program­ mes. For example a housing ',.... vas incorporated into a recent 5th Year urban design programme and an objection frequently heard was that. because a 'real' area had been used as a base, some students found it difficult to enter into the spirit of the game. (The game, inhabs in this case. was a simulation of the planning processes involved in the development of a housing area.)

This form of simulation then was seen as being clouded by the introduction of reality. Yet ninety per cent of design programmes are, in various degrees, a simulation of reality. One ~nswer to the problem could be the introduction of a live projects office. Even this however "as its own inherent problems. How many off ices could afford to employ the equivalent of a full year of students on one project? Realism? It is 31so difficult for students to have close contact with the project during the total design and con­ struction period. Of course, the live projects office can, obviously be of educational value, trealism' apart.

Another suggestion is th~t more realism could be introduced by the inClusion of competitions in place of design programmes. However competitions are often set on an unrealistic time scale and frequently result in unrealistic solutions.

It has also been suggested that a sandwich course could offer more contact with 'reality' than the single year out in a conventional course. Yet sandwich courses are not increasing in pop­ ularity.

Perhaps more 'reality' could be achieved by a combination of different methods. Alternatively if the professional bodies didn't basically want generalist architects then there would be more time for specialist study.

On reflection it would possibly have been better to start this article with a precise definition of the 'reality' in the context of an architec­ tural problem. Perhaps if there was a little more 'real' time available •••.•.•••••••••••••••

ago, opening up the square to reveal the unsym­ pathetic mass of Barry's Amusements and if the intention of demolition of the rest of the station is carried out the scale of the square will be destroyed, if not the square itself: it is such an important structure in a complex urban landscape.

Northern Ireland Railways through it's holding company wants to demolish the station replacing it with ~ commercial developement which would not re­ tain the charm of the existing station. This is all very well, barring the architectural consid­ eration, but it is the sneaky manner in which N.I.R. wants to demolish the station, replacing it with a blank balance sheet building, which gives rise for some concern.

Towards these objectives N.I.R's architects, a Belfast firm, designed a new station slightly further down the line and this building was half­ completed before an unsuspecting Portrush Urban District Council realized that N.I.R. were up to something ra~her nasty and had not yet applied for planning permission. This was refused when N.I.R. did belatedly seek approval. Representatives of the holding company then showed the council their proposals for the station rite - a commercial developement with an excellent ~ateable value _ and tried to entice the council into giving the go ahead for the scheme, thus ensuring demolition of the station. But fortunately the council. still smarting from lack of previous consultations, have yet to make a decision.

The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society list of the area gave the Station a grade A rating indicating their desire to have it retained as an important element of the town. The question is should N.I.R., with the assistance of their architects from Belfast, be allowed to steam­ roller their intentions past the counoil and U.A.H.S. leaving Portrush a boring seaside town without its central element? Portrush without its station would be like Euston minus the arch _ featureless.

. ar.<". 't.r.a't oru.y ;::01.' a. : S;i.01.'1: 1: ime Ci.nd in Gor.fuGed cu-­

i_ THE MINOS AFFAIR

Robin Wylie

When I sat down to write this piece, a recent re-reading of James Curl's "European Cities and Society", was fresh in my mind. At one point in that book James quotes John Donne's "no man is an island", associating with it his own not inac­ curate, but certainly ungrateful remark that 'specialisation is the enemy of civilisation'.

Determinedly therefore I will avoid the specialists role. by a bringing together of seemingly diverse topics to form my theme.

The island of Crete. the largest in the Aegean archipelago lies roughly equidistant from Europe.

Africa, and Asia Minor. Given extensive trading and thus cultural links, it is scarcely surpri­ sing that the first truly European civilisation was cradled here a fact mirrored by the story of Europa, a Princess of Phoenicia who travelled to Crete on the back of a white bull. The bull was of course Zeus. in heavy disguise, and by him Europa bore three sons, Minos, Phadamanthys, and Sarpedon. all identifiable with Cretan Royalty.

In The Odyssey Book XIX Crete sits "in the midst of the wine dark sea. a fair land and a rich. begirt with water. and therein are many men. innumerable. and ninety cities".

Today Crete is still beautiful. but not as fertile as formerly, the forests of Cypress bave vanished and the ninety cities have become a few towns.

Rugged mountains form an almost contiuuous back­ bone leaving cultivable plains at the broader parts of the Island. Near these plains stand the ruins of Minoan Palatial Architecture.

The development of this culture accelerated from the beginning of the Bronze Age in 3000 B.C. to produce a system of writing and a developed palatial architecture around 2000 B.C. In 1500 B.C. the last and most brillant period. late Minoan. was virtually wiped out by a violent catastrophe. A thousand years later the Egyptians related to the Greek sage Solon how Atlantis, a large, powerful and populous island, in the course of a single dreadful day and night, and after a series of calamitous earthquakes and inundations, disappeared for ever beneath the sea.

It is known that Thera, the modern volcanic island of santor in. which is only thirty miles north of Crete did erupt at that time, and comparing this event with the recorded eruption of Krakatoa in the Dutch East Indies in 1890. similar titanic waves must have engulfed much of Crete. In any event only Knossas. the principal site, was re-occupied,

t;:­

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-tumslanc;s:-T!l:epeople of Crete would-se~m to h,;,';~" . been a peaceful, and religious people, brilliant and gifted, living in an attractive and stimulating environment.

Physically they were small, broadshouldered. slim­ waisted natural athletes who perhaps initiated the athletic festivals later beloved of the mainland Greeks. They appear on contemporary Egyptian wall paintings as the Keftui or 'people of the islands.'

Minoan religion centred on the Great Godess the Earth Mother and continued the neOlithic deVelopments of cave sanctuary. labyrinth and the horns as funda­ mental tenets. Legend places the birth of Zeus in a cave. concealed from his father Cronos. Because Cronos feared the future power of a son. he had, until then. devoured all his male children. It is significant that Minos, the son of Zeus, frequently descended into caves to consult his father, and on one major occasion returned with a complete code of laws for his people.

Other traditions related to Minos describe a great fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean. the construction of the great labyrinth by Datdalus, and of courSe the ultimate death of the Minotaur at the hands of Thesus, aided by Ariadne, the King's daughter.

The Bull-leaping Games were a central activity of Minoan life expressing one primitive belief that the earth was tossed upon the horns of an enormous bull. as in the Iliad Bk xx,"In bulls does the earth shaker delight ,n a coy explanation of earthquakes. and in­ cluding the sacrifice necessary to placate unfriendly primal forces. Perhaps Minos, at once king and Priest. wearing a bulls-head mask led the ceremonial. officiated at the sacrifice and became in folk memory the minotaur, part man, part beast demanding annual tribute from the Athenians.

The palaces of Crete may be considered as representing in their siting. orientation. layout and construction a complete ritualisation of Neolitic and Bronze Age culture a polyfunctional entity of great subtlety.

If we examine the siting we find that in every case a clearly defined pattern of landscape can be re­ cognised with certain elements present in fixed re­ lationships. These are firstly an enclosing valley in which the palace is set. secondly a gently mounded hill to north or south, and lastly a higher, distant, double-peaked mountain on the same axis.

While there must be many complexities of meaning associated with these forms, the principal reference must be to the earth's motherly form. The forms through their controlling axis. define and focus the constructed elements of the palace, the labyrinthine

--­

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paGSage,

~ne

open

cour~

'_.' :, ,..:.. 'the _o.~;,..lum~~ J)~!.i.lio"-Ia.nd

the pillared cave:--ihusthe natUral a;:'d the c~n!l­

tructed are fused in a harmon ius combination.

It is the dominant feature therefore of Minoan lif.e

and thought to be in total and profound harmony witb

ndture"

cUnoan palatial archuecture. particularly as it

survives only in an incomplete and ruinous state.

can be virtually incomprehensible to the observer.

A.W. Laurence in bis "Greek Architecture" refers to "the insane jigsaw" of the ground plan at Knossos.

On closer scrutiny however. a clear structure emerges

planned to respond to a complex set of requirements,

ceremonial, residential. religious, manufacturing

and warehousing. which in turn stem from'the

executive and economic functions of the palace.

The plan is arranged on mainly two levels around

the central court. To the West, storage magazines;

and associated with the central court. shrine and

throne suites; all supporting a large $uite of

public rooms on the first floor. To the North-east,

workshops and storerooms supporting dining rooms.

kitchens and a conjectural Great East Hall sanctuary

for the Mother Goddess. In the South-east corner,

the "Domestic Quarter". the Royal apartments consist

of a four storey block containing the "Grand Stair­

case". Because of the ground levels, this part of

the Palace lies nine metres below the central court

so that it gives access at the half way point of

the staircase. It is significant that the most

important rooms within the 'domestic quarter'

namely the "Hall of the Double Axes" and the "Queen's

Megaron" are at the lowest,level where they may

relate directly to open porticoes. terraced gardens

and the landscape beyond.

To understand more of Knossos and the Palace of

Minos as it can be seen today it is necessary to

know something about the excavation, partial restora­

tion and publication of this site by Sir Arth~

Evans. .

central court 100.

It is significant that the year in which Arthur

Evans was born, 1851, saw also the Great Exhibition

at the Crystal Palace, and some of the first patents

registered for a true reinforced concrete. Through

the succeeding half century we can trace developments

which. when brought together. explain much of his

work at Knosses.

,Evans himself was the key figure. A fine scholar

with a First in History at Oxford. an inveterate

traveller who enjoyed roughing it, one time Balkan

correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. he became

keeper of the Ashmolean in which position he was

much given to archaeological forays both theoretical

and practical.

,\--::::=: \ I \ \

He was chronically shortsighted, with an intense

microscopic vision. vision which enabled him to

appreciate the true significance of tiny Minoan

seal stories which he saw in Athens in 1893 in a

oealer's possession.

By 1900 he was excavating The Palace of Minos 'and

discovering a brUliant civilisation. hitherto

unknown.

His excavation and restoration on which he spent about a quarter of a million pounds. have been widely publicised. This work has attracted some criticism chiefly on account of the colourful rehuilding of key portions of the Palace. I t should be clearly understood however that Evans found himself excavating a multi-storey building of con­ siderable complexity. much of which was intact in three dimensions. supported in its original position by a matrix of debris. Columns of cypress wood, tapering to the base and set into stone sockets had been used to support a superstructure of stone, tensioned by timber against earthquake movements.

All woodwork however had been carbonisad in the course of thirty five centuries. Evans had to replace this missing system in order to proceed.

Only reinforced concrete, the new, cheap, durable and ambiguous structural material could have solved such a problem. Without it, the spatial and functional qualities of the Palace would be lo~t to us. or at best recorded, only in the dimensions. in the archives of Evan's excavation reports and publications. What of the Great Exhibition?

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New standards of design and new currents of thought. sprang from the revulsion which many people felt on seeing the exhibition. These new directions are characterised by the Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris. and later, Art Nouveau. By coincidence the first recorded example of Art Nouveau, a title page for a book, was designed by Ilackllurdo. born in the same year as Evans. and died in the same year (19112).

Clearly the forms and unilinear curves of Art Nouveau owe as much to Minoan art published in excavation reports from 1880 onwards, as does Ionian philosophy based as it was on continuity and the fluid linear movement of nature.

bath from the Queen's apa

The restoration of a site such as Knosses was influenced of course as much by the accepted cultural and artistic standards of the day as they were by publication of excavation material.

The Grand Staircase

This two-way process serves to clarify a situation I find to be important. Consider a complex, multi­ use entity primarily functional in derivation though exhibiting some notions of formal aesthetics such as partial symmetry. constructed as a multi­ storey building on a modular basis, flat roofed, structurally cohesive though flexible. equipped with systems of drainage, adjustable ventilation and bilateral lighting, an entity carefully related to external space form acco~ding tQ prevailing notions or amenuy, natural harmony. and meta­ physics. .Does this represent a late 20th century A.D. ideal, buUt in the late 20th century B.C•• albeit in :Lt5 own terms?

Does this represent the timeless unchanging value system of European civilisation, or does it perhaps refer to the "dust to dust.....ashes to ashes" finale of contemporary architecture and culture?

Time alone can answer with authority.

the octopus jar from Goun

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Thus the natural and the consin a harmonius combination. feature therefore of Minoan life in total and profound harmony with

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chitecture, particularly as it .n incomplete and ruinous state, ncomprehensible to the observer. ,is "Greek Architecture" refers ;saw" of the ground plan at KnosSOB. , however, a clear structure emerges I to a complex set of requirements, mtial, religious, manufacturing rbich in turn stem from' the 'OlDie functions of the palace. led on mainly two levels around To the West, storage magazines; :h the central court, shrine and L supporting a large suite of Ie first floor. To the North-east, ~rooms supporting dining rooms, Ijectural Great East Hall sanctuary 1dess. In the South-east corner, ~ter". the Royal apartments consist 'lock containing the "Grand Stair­ f the ground levels, this part of ine metres below the central court iCCess at the half way point of t is significant that the most lthin the 'domestic quarter' ~f the Double Axes" and the "Queen's be lowest level where they may :> open porticoes. ter'X'aced gllll'dens beyond.

=----.::;, reception halls

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central court looking south to sacred hill

that the year in which Arthur i851. saw also the Great Exhibition ilace. and some of the first patents true reinforced concrete. Through uf century we can trace developments \lit together, explain much of his

first floor plan \,

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the key figure. A fine scholar listory at Oxford, an inveterate joyed roughing it. one time Balkan the Manchester Guardian, he became nnolean in which position he was ohaeological forays both theoretical I

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west Court

central court

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workshops

ceremonial suite

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II royal aDartmen.ts

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ceremonial routes II:

Ground floor plan The Palace of Minos

: south entrance

A Book Review - IINice one Georgie!!!

"Itchypod's Belfast" by George Itchypod, NICE-ONE PRESS, BELFAST.

_

bath from the Queen's apartment

II of a site such as Knosses was :lourse as much by the accepted '7tistic standards of the day as they stion of excavation material.

~ess serves to clarify a situation IIportant. consider a complex, multi­ imarily functional in derivation lng some notions of formal aesthetics 1 symmetry, constructed as a multig on a modular hasis. flat roored, Dhesive though flexible. equipped If drainage, adjustable ventilation aighting, an entity carefully related Bce form according tq prevailing mity, natural hannony. anoJ. meta­ this represent a late 20th century ;Ut in the late 20th century B.C., '0,", terms?

Does this represent mchangiug value system of European .or does it perhaps refer to the ,"ashes to ashes" finale of lrchitecture and culture?

answer with authority.

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stora.p:e

If design and new currents of thought, revulsion which many people felt on Ibition. These new directions are ~y the Arts and Crafts Movement. and later, Art Nouveau. By , first recorded example of Art Nouveau.

'I' a book, was designed by liIackmurdo, .e year as Evans, and died in the same

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•••• ••••••••• ~ • .... • e.r-­ e_,____

north entrance

1y shortsighted, with an intense on; vision which enabled him to rue significance or tiny Minoan ch he saw in Athens in 1893 in a ion.

Ixcavating The Palace or Hinos 'and :Uliant civUisation, hitharto

and unilinear curves of Art lmucb to Minoan art published in .)rts from 1880 onwards, as does Ionian .Id as it was on continuity and the f)Vement of nature.

Isanctua~

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e of Knossos and the Palace of e seen today it is necessary to out the excavation. partial restora­ ion of this site by Sir Arth~

Ind restoration on which he spent lof a million pounds. have been .d. This work has attracted some :,y on account of the colourful '?I portions of the Palace. It should ,'Stood however that Evans round Lng a multi-storey building or con­ eldty, much or which was intact in " supported in its original position ~ebris. Columns of cypress wood, base and set into stone sockets had ~port a superstructure of stone, nber against earthquake movements.

Never had been carbonised in the 'f five centuries. Evans had to llsing system in order to proceed. concrete, the new. cheap, durable ~ructural material could have solved Without it, the spatial and iities of the Palace would be lost to tr'ecoroed, only in the dimensio~, in Evan's excavation reports and Mbat of the Great Exhibition?

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banquet inp; hall

the octopus jar from Gournia

I have ~rten heard the opinion expressed that was in two minds. As a friend. it has .often to me that, at any given time. he has been in at least three, all of them interesting. Dear old George!

How orten did we sit up well into the night discus­ sing post-Pevsnerian politics oVer mugs of sweet, muddy coffee. What a scrap there was for that last chocolate biscuit! However, back to the task in hand.

I have been asked to review the book he always said was to be his magnum opus "Itchypod's Belfast", published now, posthumously, by a new Belfast firm.

Alas, it seems that the hairline cracks and strange mental twists of his previous work, "A Tavernor's Tale", have widened into chasms and gentle bends.

The whole book is taken up with an almost surrealistic comparison between the large lamp which directs night­ time traffic at Shaftesbury Square, which he cr~istens "the Shaftesbury Beacon". and our dear, old, familiar City HalL Referring constantly to - "The 'Opium' Poet's Belfast Sojourn". by Victor Vasectomy and the Reverend Raymond Redbreast, and especially the chap­ ter 'Belfast is Xanadu", he contends that Coleridge composed his famous poem while stumbling around Bel­ fast in a whiskey-haze after an evening at Dubarrys. (hence the pleasure dome is the City Hall and Alph the sacred river i~ the Blackstaff)!

This is not all. He records a pilgrimage to the stone clochan on Dun Aengus which is the home of the only living person who can remember Belfast as it was, before the City Hall was built - Danny McAlmas-Daisy.

"Danny", he writes. "is very old but his brain is still active~ When asked the obvious he paused, knocking his clay pipe out "Well sir, it' was wierd, there was an air of ex-pec­

tency, like everyone was waiting for something to happen". He writes of how he first happened upon the Shaftesbury Beacon, and his astonished and indignant cry - "What an erection!" caused passers by to stare in open-mouthed amazement.

But enough. 1 urge you to read this book, as I did. with an open mind. May I also recommend the two volumes brought out simultaneously with it. Both cover interesting, i f limited, rields. They are ­ "The Belfast Bog-at-the-Back Book" by Robin Rudeness and "The Truth and the Trust" by Eric (Little by Little) Hummingbird. All three are modestly priced at 5 guineas. Cheerio!

Alexander Marsh-Gibbon

The Passionate Systems Man to His Analyst Roofs and gables, spire and steeple Rise and ramble 'gainst the sky Dh what sights to greet my people Apples of a draughtsman's eye.

But must we gape at nine day wonders Wonders blunders of the past Brick-a-brack all red and yellow Betjernanic old Belfast (Relics of Victorian Heritage We've been sold a mess of potterage).

Rumble stumble groan and Bark your shins on myths Architects should all be Stuffed and crammed with E.D. Evans

grumble of yare humble building lore.

THE TURN OF THE CENTURY IN ULSTER:

ART NOUVEAU AND INVENTIVENESS

Paul Larmour

The 'turn of the century' period was one of novelty and invention, with whimsical use of past styles, all part of a general revolt against the tired eclecti­ cism of the Neo-classicists and the Gothic­ Revivalists.

It was left to certain isolated figures, like the Scotsman Rennie Mackintosh, to pave the way to a new and more genuinely 'modern' architecture, but most minor figures replaced High Victorian grossness with a picturesque and often animated eclectic style, much after the influence of Norman Shaw. Shaw, the most representative and influential British archi­ tect of the time, was a bewildering eclectic capable of adapting any style in history brilliantly to his purpose, drawing together particularly Tudor ha~f­ timber Dutch Renaissance, Queen Anne, and Engl~sh vernac~lar work of the 11th and IBth centuries.

Turn of the century work in Ulster tends to be char­

acterised by Shaw-inspired features, with inter­

national influence occasionally appearing: wide

arches after the style of the American Henry

Richardson continental 'art nouveau'detailing,

and some ~~kintosh and Charles Townsend inspired

'art nouveau 'features.

After the influence of Shaw, a number of buildings

appeared with tall gables of unfamiliar outline and

interesting detailS. Kinahan Mansions, a terrace of

six houses with shops, on Stranmillis Road Belfast,

designed 189B by Thomas Lindsay, has two towering

gables with finials and Scottish-baronial inspired

corbelling. Still remaining over the ground floor

premises of a hair stylist are wide semi-elliptical

arches, fashionable at the time. Office premises at

No.8 Waring Street, designed by W.Gilliland in l89B,

has an ~nteresting tall gable, and a tudorish arch

over the ground floor section. This building has

a distinctive 'fin de siecle' atmosphere without ,

having any details directly related to 'art nouveau.

Cathedral Buildings, Donegall Street, designed by

Lepper and Fennell in 1900, has a similar atmosphere,

as have two buildings by Graeme Watt and Tulloch.

These are the Power Station of 1898 in East Bridge

Street, and Murray Sons and Co. Ltd. Whitehall Tobacco

Works at the Boyne Bridge, Sandy Row,c.l900. Both

are novel buildings, the Tobacco Works being par­

ticularly distinctive, having pagoda-like roofs to

the two towers, and a bright freize of lettering.

There are huge bulging quoins to the towers with

'art nouveau' curves and scrolls.

One of the foremost architects in Ulster at this time was Vincent Craig (lB66-1925), an elder brother of Lord Craigavon. Craig started ijS a pupil of WH.Lynn architect of the library at QUB in 1668, and of Belfast Castle in 1810 in Scottish Baronial style.

In 1900 at the age of 71 Lynn designed the department store known as Bank Buildings which surprisingly looked forward to the 20th century, with its framed construction and large areas of plate glass.

Two early works by Craig, the Belfast Bank (now Northern Bank) on Marp Street, Portrush, of 189B, and a bank at Rathmines in Dublin of IB99 show dis­ tinctive gable features and corner towers. The Portrush bank, though now shorn of its 'art noveau' style iron gates and surrounding railings, is an interesting mixture of oriels, gables and dormers with the corner tower corbelled. Craig's modest Town Hall in Cookstown, designed in 1900 in assoc­ iation with JW. Leebody, is interesting only for its squat Scottish baronial corner-corbelling at the square tower, but this was fOllowed in 1902 by the much more distinctive design for Portstewart Presby­ terian Church. This is finished in roughcast cement with red sandstone trim and displays certain 'art noveau' features. The porch tower has long shallow arched pediments over the door and window, broken by attached finials. Above louvred top storey windows are wavy drip mOUldings and above them a scalloped parapet. The large west window is slightly pointed, with flowing 'art noveau' coloured glass designs.

An interesting feature is the buttress which breaks up through this window. The coping of the tower seems to bear some relation to the undulating coping topping the two towers which flank the impressive gable of No.36 and 38 Donegall Place ,Belfast. This building was built by Craig in 1903 for Sharman D. Neil, the leading clockmakers at the time. It is a strange but charming facade with baroque elements featured in an original way.

In 1906, at Coleraine Academical Institution, Craig designed an arch of Dumfries red sandstone which displayed 'art nouveau curves in its cast iron gates.

The foilowing year work began on the Masonic Hall, Downpatrick. This curious assymetrical building has been altered considerably but still retains dis­ tinctive features - elliptical gables and an Italian­ ate Composite entrance arch. 'Art nouveau' coloured glass designs are much in evidence and on the inside doors there are fine brass pushplates with embossed tulip flower and stem designs in 'art nouveau' style.

Craig's Ballywatt Presbyterian Church Hall of 1910-11, near Portrush, has inside door handles reminiscent of the metalwork of Victor Horta, the Belgian exponent of 'art nouveau·,

The foremost firm working in 'art nouveau'style at this time was Blackwood & Jury of Belfast. In 1902 they designed a pair of semi-detached houses in Deramore Drive off the Malone Road. These together have a very buiky appearance, three storeys tall with half-hips to the end and front gables, and huge sloping-sided chimneys. Distincti~e fea~ures on each are a wide arched wooden transome In a f~rst-floor window, a wavy parapet to a projecting bay, an~ an ingle-nOOk projecting from.each end facade. ~Ire­ place~ are exceptionally flne, those on the fIrst floor being metal with stems of Beardsleyesque de­ lineation curving upwards and breaking out into a mass of leaves under the overmantle. The downstairs fireplace is an elegant inglenook in English 'Arts and Crafts' style. Elsewhere inside there ar; art nouveau.designs carved in wood, and the style ~s

obvious in many coloured-glass windows.

-

Blackwood and <Jury designed Belfast's most bizarre building, the larg~ department store of 1905 in Castle Place. This presents a very 'Gaudiesque' art nouveau roof line. Formerly the building had curved art nouveau glazing bars in the first~floor windows, but these were lost as a result of a nearby terrorist bomb explosion. The lower storeys have been much altered in recent years, so that only the upper half of the buildin~ remains as it was.

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very ::;Cdly tlppedl'allce with its facing of

'Carrara' artificial stone. There are bulging bal­ cony railings and flambouyant designs of swirling tulips and serpentine decoration.

Just around the corner in Arthur Square is the huge bulk of Blackwood & Jury's 'Mayfair' block of 1906, a building with something of the atmosphere of a Nor­ thern European medieval market hall, with steeply pitched roof and high gables. The building is exe­ cuted in brick with stone dressing. Notable features are the wide stilted arches at first floor level (a feature of the Castle Place store) ,the fanciful Mayfair lettering above the door, the surprising tower at the corner entrance, witR an Italianate dome at the top, and a medieval-like sloping hood over the entrance.

The only surface decoration reminiscent of Castle Place is in the curvilinear mOUldings which appear along the frieze above the ground floor windows.

Blackwood & Jury's Carnegie Public Library of 1908 in Downpatrick is a restrained and handsome building, more 'modern' than "art noveau". It has fine lettering and a delightful little entrance with hood. There are certain curved details - stone coping to each side of the main gables, scroll-like metal brackets under the projecting eaves, - as well as wide-arched windOWS with stone transoms and mullions, and the gentle upward sway of the coping to the projecting bay. Un­ fortunately this building has been allowed to deter­ iorate inside and is due to be demolished - a sad end.

A happier fate for Ballynafeigh Methodist Church,

Ormeau Road Belfast: this was restored and repainted

in 1966. This interesting and eccentric church

was designed by Forman and Aston, a Londonderry firm,

and completed in 1699. C.Brett describes its exterior

treatment as being 'a very strange adaptation of

renaissance ideals to art nouveau idioms'. Of sig­

nificance are the wide arched openings near the top

of the tower.

A building with a sirr.ilar wide arch in Richardsonian

fashion is Crymbles Music Shop in Wellington Place,

Belfast's most delightful example in the art nouveau

style, with fine carvings, medallion, and colourful

spandrel decoration. This frontage was designed in

1903 by W.J.W. Roome, a well-known and liked person­

ality. After thirty years of architectural practice

he gave up his business in 'Kingscourt', Wellington

Place, to participate in the work of carrying the

gospel into the interior of Africa. Secretary in

East and Central Africa for the British and Foreign

Bible Society, he travelled mOre than 100,000 miles,

25 per cent of which was done on foot or by pedal

cycle. Travelling unarmed he was often the first

white man ever seen by natives. He was an adven­

turous man, only the seventh Briton to climb

Kilimanjaro and reach the crater. {A canpanion with

him became the first American to achieve the featl.

Mr. Roane died in Tangiers in 1931.

The large block of 1910 which spreads between Gros­ venor Road and Murray Street, now for the most part bombed-out inside, is only slightly damaged exter­ nally. On the Murray Street side of the block there are three similar entrances. The doorway at No.5 has a wide arch over a very large fanlight. The impost moulding is carried across from each side to form side windows but then is interrupted by the door breaking up through it. The undulation of the archi­ trave is comparable with the wavy contour of the tower drip-moulds of Vincent Craig's church in Port­ stewart. This wave is echoed at the nearby entrance to the premises of Glendinning, McLeish + Co. Ltd. in the same block: here the string course rises above a tympanum with the date 1910 carved on a hackground of shamrock-like sculpted leaves.

The date 1910 appears in a larger tympanum on the fourth floor of the Grosvenor Road facade: here' the cornice rises over it. Oval oculi appear in the attic storey of both facades. The entrance on Grosvenor Road - to the premises of Wm. Strain Ltd. - has large brackets with carved Celtic-art inspired entrelac de­ corations on the sides. (The Irish-based Celtic­ Revival had, to a limited extent, made a direct contri­ bution to 'art nouvea~'form, the medieval entrelac motifs fusing with the rhythmic line of the 1890's to produce a characteristic curvilinear design).There are strange animal carvings On the fronts of the brackets.

Animal carvings are the most interesting feature of Hanna's other building, a warehcJse for linen-mer­ chants at 19-21 Alfred Street, designed in 1911.

The entrance is a Venetian door with art nouveau inspired coloured glass in the fanlight. There are little entrelac carvings on the different capitals on the c"lumns flanking the door opening. These slim columns are startlingly contrasted by the squat columns supporting the wide shallow segmental arches of the ground floor windows. Each of these columns has a different capital: one has intertwined cock­ rels, while the others have different winged-dragon designs. Above each capital there is a curving stone plaque with "Pure FlaK" carved, and further above,pairs of winged animals are carved. High up on the facade the year 19l1a. is displayed along with two tremendous intertwined dragons which fill the typanum below the curved pediment.

'Mayfair', Arthur Sq

Hanna's detailing of such unexpected and original form is a fitting close to a period of Ulster's arch­ itectural history that had begun wi.th. mere 1)' int;res­ ting use of period styles. The sp~rIt of l.nVentIon had reached its climax with this Irish national­ romanticism that breathed of the Nordic "Dragon Style".

A number of the charming Edwardian shop-fronts along

Main Street in Portrush display art nouveauaetailing.

Notable examples are McIlroy + Sons, and the Stair­

way Restaurant, with delicate ironwork. The res­

taurant shop-front by Albert Clarke in 1911 has a

particularly fine curving brass doorhandle.

A number of priyate dwellings in Belfast haYe certain art nouveau reatures. Jhese range from the crude thistle mottf on the gable or a Sang Souci Park nouse designed in 1901 by Thomas Houston, to the delicate little balcony railings which sway out gently from the facade of the last house or a terrace row' in University Avenue. Dated 1903, this house is different from the rest - the builder, a Mr. Cairns, reserved it for himself and oBviously had an affection for art nOUVeau and irregularity rooms to the rear of the house being octagonal in plan, while the staircase is triangular.

Wm. Strain Ltd., Grosvenor Rd.

Portstew,

The pair of semi-detached houses in Sans Souci together present an irregular facade. Originally the gables of the two central bays were the same, the thistle motif being on each one, but the two flanking projecting bays have different treatments to the parapets, one having raised coping where the other features depressions. A further touch of assymmetricality is provided by one house having a projecting porch. This too has a distinct­ ive parapet coping.

In 1905 F.H. Tulloch designed a.house for himself

in Myrtlefield Park, also off the Malone Road.

This is an impressive house which seems to have

something of the'presencdof a Mackintosh design.

The recess on the front facade is notable in that

there is just a garden seat where one would expect

to find a main entrance. The entrance is through

a side porch which has small interlacing art

nouveau patterning in the lead glazing bars. The

window catches also display exhuberant curves.

The door knocker too has art nouveau curves and an

embossed tulip motif.

Fireplace at Deramore Drive

House in Myrtlefield Park

The same model of knocker is on a front door in

University Avenue. This mid 19th century terrace

row had a few pieces of ironmongery added at the

turn of the century, there being one particularly

fine art nouveaU letterbox with a handle which

swerves outwards.

The period ends with two very interesting buildings, both by James A. Hanna of Belfast. These are tall commercial blocks, on the whole straightforward essays in early modern framed construction, but there are certain 'art nouveau' features, and idiosyncratic detailing of the utmost inventiveness.

Carnegie Library

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f 1910 which spreads between Gros­ rray Street, now for the most part , is only slightly damaged exter­ rray Street side of the block there entrances. The doorway at No.5 ver a very large fanlight. The s carried across from each side to but then is interrupted by the door gh it. The undulation of the archi­ able with the wavy contour of the of Vincent Craig's church in Port­ ve is echoed at the nearby entrance f Glendinning, McLeish + Co. Ltd. in ere the string course rises above he date 1910 carved on a background sculpted leaves.

Letterbox, University Square

Kinahan Mansions

ears in a larger tympanum on the he Grosvenor Road facade: here the r it. Oval oculi appear in the attic cades. The entrance on Grosvenor mises of Wm. Strain Ltd. - has large Ved Celtic-art inspired entrelac de­ sides. (The Irish-based Celticlimited extent, made a direct contri­ uveau~' form, the medieval entrelac h the rhythmic line of the 1890's acteristic curvilinear design).There 1 carvings on the fronts of the Ire the most interesting feature of .lding, a warehclse for linen-mer­ .lfred Street, designed in 19l1.

I Venetian door with art nouveau I glass in the fanlight.

There are 'arvings on the different capitalS lanking the door opening. These startlingly contrasted by the squat Ig the wide shallOW segmental arches lor windOWS. Each of these columns lapital: one has intertwined cock­ ,thers have different winged-dragon !ach cap i tal there is a curv ing ~ "Pure Flax" carved, and further inged animals are carved. High up e year 19lil. is displayed along with ntertwined dragons which fill the curved pediment.

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The spirit of 1nvention :climax with this Irish nationalbreathed of the Nordic "Dragon Style".

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Door in Murray St.

Vincent Crair:

Btrain Ltd., Grosvenor Rd.

Fireplace at Deramore Drive

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Carnegie Library

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ULSTER GARDEN VILLAGES LTD.

In 1943 there lItas. a housing prohlem) Ireland. A co~i:t:tee reporting on two thirds of the dl!"ellings in the stock needed repair. It was Iurthe, the destruction of 3,000 houses andl 50,000 more suring the war years. .

Ireland Housing l'rust was set up inc public authority nouses throughout I with the large Duilding progr=ne, seemed to De lacking in experience There was strong competition among fair share of the 2,000 prefaDricate houses (not to be confused with ordl allocated to the province. Further' provided a unique system of subsidi( local authority approval, for priva:

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It vas against this background that builder, Hr. Thomas McGrath, set up Ulster Garden Villages Ltd. His all a series of garden villages embodyi! expressed by groups like the Bourne­ Trust. In early 1947 the intention, first villages at Herville was anno. here these ideas came closest to re, company was to retain ownership of 1 taining the communal front lawns ant the Merville mansion was converted i community centre, child clinic and: children's playg~d was provided. a sum of about £100, tenants could I, in the company. Later Mr. McGrath \' another 'first. with the establishmem of a 2oo-seat theatre in a convert~ In October the village was official: Minister of Health but the followin!_ the first tenants could move in, tr" shape of the Belfast Rural District This body refused to issue subsidy (, £500 per house) until they were sat: the tenants were "workers". Ulster replied that if the subsidies were ~ they would be free to sell the hous" market. This matter was quickly cl~ tenants moved in. The village conto

Flats at Merville

Spinal pathway at Merville

A Courtyard at Merville

In sunny old Disneyland there is en. set aside from the Davy Crocket Fro] the Julie Andrews type heavens, thi: items of a technological nature, wi' on how good progress is and how teel progress = heaven, this zone is cal_ land', ?luto goes there often.

We are continuously doing things to. excuse that they are being designed With our eyes set on the unreachabl. trip over our feet. Politically an. we are sorely bruised. Philosophy. nov for the serious stuff:

Shops at Abbot's Cross

What are the choices open to an arcl great change in his city and wants 1 in re-shaping it, mainly because he just how it should be done. Natura: he knows better than anyone else. I joins the city planning office or tt Executive and gets involved in 'desi and 'planning communities'. OR becon being termed a 'community architect' community architect has invented hi~ because he feels that the community is after all an outsider. But I beJ is in this direction that we must we Participation is not really the namE the community architect is used by 1 order to express their feelings and coherent jargon that authorities li~

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ULSTER GARDEN VILLAGES LTD.

Peter Waring

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In 19'+3 :there .as a housing problem in Northern Ireland. A commi:t:tee reporting on it showed that two thirds of :the dlll!llings in :the total housing stock needed repair. It was further aggravated by the destruction of 3.000 houses and the damaging of 50,000 more !luring lohe Will' years. The Northern Ireland Housing 7rus.t was set up in 19'+5 to build public authority houses throughout Ulster. Faced with the large building progr~e. local authorities seemed to be lacking in experience and confidence.

There was strong competition among them to secure a fair share of the 2,000 prefabricated "aluminium" houses (not to be confused with ordinary "prefabs") allocated to the province. Further legislation provided a unique system of subsidies. dependent on local authority approval. for private building.

It was against this background that a private builder, Mr. Thomas McGrath, set up a new company, Ulster Garden Villages Ltd. His aim was to build a series of garden villages embodying the ideas expressed by groups like the Bourneville Village Trust. In early 19'+7 the intention to build the first villages at Merville was announced. It was here these ideas came closest to realization. The company was to retain ownership of the estate. main­ t-aining the communal front lawns and shrubberies. the Merville mansion was converted to act as a community centre. child clinic and library. and a children's playgrQUC.d was provided. On payment of a sum of about flOO. tenants could gain an interest in the company. Later Mr. McGrath was to achieve another 'first' , with the establishment. for a period. of a 200-seat theatre in a converted nissen hut.

In October the village was officially opened by the Minister of Health but the following month. before the first tenants could move in. trouble in the shape of the Belfast Rural District Council. loomed.

This body refused to issue subsidy certificates (for f500 per house) until they were satisfied that ali the tenants were "workers". Ulster Garden Villages replied that if the subsidies were not forthcoming they would be free to sell the houses on the open market. This matter was quickly cleared up and the tenants moved in. The village contained '+30

dwelling units of various types (semi-detached and terraced housing. cottage flats and flats in blocks) as well as 73 garages and 1'+ shops. The rent for a house was to be about 25 shillings per week.

Further garden villages were planned and built at Abbot's Cross, Fernagh, Princ£'s Park, King's Park, Muckamore and Whitehead. By no means all of Ulster Garden Villages' projects were approved; a scheme to provide 5.000 dwellings in 18 months was turned down by tbe government as it would have given U.G.V. virtual monopoly in the private building section.

Nevertheless, construction was rapid, houses at Abbot's Cross being completed in 60 days; floors and foundations laid in two days. T~e houses were architect-designed. finished to high standards within the limitations of post war material shortages and fitted with refrigerators and immersion heaters.

Garden Villages'. In fact operations were halted

around 1950 with the company's bankruptcy, most of

the villages being taken over by the Liverpool

Victoria Friendly Society. Mr. McGrath Is reported

to be "going strong" now in Canada.

Today the residents are as proud as ever to liVe in Merville and efforts are being made to re-establish the community centre which fell into disuse about twelve years ago. The extreme simplicity of the houses is still appealing although some have taken on a 'hangdog' look as the once-white stucco has weathered badly in some places. There is a happy atmosphere at Merville typified by a sign which says­ "CAUTION CHILDREN PLAYING". as against one at Abbot's Cross which states - "TRESPASSERS ON --ASS P,REAS WILL BE PROS------". Perhaps it is the natural greenery of the place which gives Merville its softness.

Merville Garden Village is distinguished by :the skilful layout of buildings and their integration with existing natural features; mature trees have been preserved and roads adjusted to the contours of the site. It is situated just outside the boundary on a long, narrow, self-contained site stretching back from the Shore Road and bounded by a timbered glen on one side and what was originally another belt of timber on the other.

The main entrance is flanked by a red brick block containing ground floor shops and flats above.

Access roads leop around both sides to tbe higher ground and the main development which is laid out on each side of the central double roadway. The houses are arranged around courtyards, the external angles, nearest the roadway. are infilled with the cottage flats giving a degree of privacy to the back gardens. Each courtyard is treated as an entity with uniform roofing materials. colours and texture. and is given continuity by pergolas at the interi~ angles.

The designer was E. Prentice Mawson. F.R.I.B.A .• M.T.P.I. a past-president of the Institute of Landscape Architects.

Advertisement ARClJIPORN - DIRECT FROM DRAPERSTOWN Dear Friend, I am sure you are jaded with the ordinary thrills and pleasures that alcohol. rallying. squash. golf or even chess can provide. I aim to make available the type of VERY ADULT books. photos etc. that will add a new dimension to your life; all from the architects point of view. If this assumption is wrong please do not read on.

8mm Archisizzlers This Month's Offer - "On the Drawingboard"?

Young Bob is feeling listless during an all-nighter at the Department. The appearance of Mitzi. his pal's Swedish mistress. breathless and in black leather. is like an answer to his prayers. They go for each other in a big way. Bob unzipped his instru­ ment case .....•.•.••.••.•..• Continued Page

The later Garden Villages wepe less ambitious. although Abbot's Cross has a large shopping centre and some very attractive flat-roofed housing. This is probably due to the differing quality of the sites and the diminishing resources of 'Ulster

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erville

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In sunny old Disneyland there is one adventure zone set aside from the Davy Crocket Frontierland and the Julie Andrews type heavens. this zone contains items of a technological nature, with the emphasis on how good progress is and how technology = progress = heaven, this zone is called 'tomorrow­ land'. ?luto goes there often.

We are continuously doing things today with the excuse that they are being designed for the future.

With our eyes set on the unreachable horizon we trip over our feet. Politically and architecturally we are sorely ~ruised. Philosophy class oVer lads. nov for the serious stuff: What are the choices open to an architect who sees great change in his city and wants to be involved in re-shaping it, mainly because he thinks he knows just how it should be done. Naturally he thinks he knows better than anyone else. Answer: he joins the city planning office or the Housing Executive and gets involved in 'designing estates' and 'planning communities', OR becomes what is now being termed a 'community architect'. Perhaps the community architect has invented his position because he feels that the community needs him; he is after all an outsider. But I believe that it is in this direction that we must work.

Participation is not really the name of the game, the community architect is used by the people in order to express their feelings and needs into coherent jargon that authorities listen to.

The 'city planning officer' rejects peoples opinions in favour of his own high standard of planning. his future image. his solution to the 'problem'. His reply to critics is "but the people don't know what they want •..• ". and the result is a continual increase in paternalistic attitudes, giving the people new hQusing. but allowing them a minimal say in the process.

In many cases it's quite true to say that people don't know just what they want. usually the prefer­ ence is for a replica of what's there already. with some improvements. People who do know what they want have a way of getting it. People who don't know what they want, end up taking what is given them. thinking the process is as natural as being given the dole and as inevitable as dying.

Sandy Row is typical of the communities in Belfast which are suffering - and in many cases dying _ from an outdated and bureaucratic system of re­ development. Shopkeepers and residents see the outcome as inevitable; "but what can you do ••• if ~he government says that this is the plan, how can you change it?", this is the attitude, and I'm not saying it isn't realistic, but it has a built-in attitude to failure, a failure complex. If we don't believe that we have the power to change something. nothing we will do will change it. Thankfully. there are those in Sandy Row who do believe that they can, and need to, do something constructive in

saving the Row from planners blight and planners '1ight. The community architect should encourage this spirit as if it were the last flower on the planet. On this scale a major breakthrough will seem a small thing to many outsiders; for example, the way the community built its own community centre, runs its own newspaper, and most recently, has started its own contracting firm, on a small scale admittedly, for the sole purpose of maintaining property which would otherwise be left neglect by the estate agents. simply because the area is to be redeveloped. Of course this small scale action doesn't stop people leaving the area daily because they believe there's no future for it, but it does suggest hope; it is a start. Further steps may include a form of direct action in rehousing families within the area - the ultimate goal of the community architect would of course be to see the people themselves forming a housing co-operative with a government subsidy in order to build their own houses. But governments and authorities wouldn't be governments and authorities if they let the people look after themselves, would they?

On Saturday 17th of March Sandy Row took to the streets for the first time to protest against the way the government is handling the situation. By delaying the motorway decision, redevelopment is delayed. and so blight takes a stronger hold. By doing nothing a government is destroying a community.

Progress and Gods work in mysterious ways.

SELF-EXPRESSION

I

The Postman As Architect

Paul LarnOllr

"This marvel, whose author may be proud,

Shall be '>nique in the universe."

- inscription On the Palais Ideal by the postman Ferdinand Cheval

The strangest sight I have ever seen lies off the

main street of the little village of Hauterives,

Department Drome, France. Built over a period of 33

years, from 1879 to 1912, it is a monument to the

imagination and determination of one man - Ferdinand

Cheval.

Cheval was born in 1836 to peasant parents at Charmes (Drome) and received a very sparse education. He worked as a baker after his marriage. It was at this time, in about 1864, that he had the dream that was to affect his whole life. In the dream he saw himself constructing a palace or castle that he remembered as being wonderfully picturesque, but for the meantime he did nothing about it. At this time, though its not known whether before or after the dream,Cheval went for a short while to Algeria, probably on military ser­

vice. Shortly after his return his wife died. He re­ married and became a postman, covering about 20 miles a day on his rounds between the villages of the Drome.

Whilst walking eternally against the same background each day Cheval amused himself by imagining the fairy palace of his dream and elaborating on it. The vision of it stayed vividly in his mind for many years but was just beginning to fade when an incident suddenly revived it: one day in 1879, when he was 43 years old, he tripped on a stone, and picking it up was enthralled by its bizarre beauty. The area around Hauterives, being once an ocean bed, is rich in calcareous tufa, a sponge limestone which takes on all kinds of shapes, as well as actual fossils. Cheval brought the stone home to admire it at leisure, and returned the next day to find yet finer specimens. He brought these home in his pockets, until his wife complained of the tears after which he used baskets; later with a ~heelbarrow he went round in the evenings after work to pick up the piles of stones he had left in various places, often covering long distances. He trans­ ported the stones from dry riverbeds Or from the roadside every day, piling them up in his garden, in preparation for work. "Since nature wants to be the sculptor", he thought "I shall be the mason and the architect" .

Cheval, Who had never used a trowel before, and had

not the slightest notion of architectural principles, embarked on the building of his fantasy palace, a dream that kept him toiling for 33 years. His family went short so that he could buy lime and cement and metal wire; the villagers ridiculed and criticised him, deriding the waste of time, money and effort' yet Cheval worked on alone, convinced that his work could not fail to aSSure him a lasting place in people's memories. Upheld by stubborness and pride he was determined to show that "even a poor peasant can be a man of genius". He had immense powers of en­ durance, frequently working at night with a candle on his hat, often until three in the morning, regardless of weather, and never failing to complete his delivery round by day.

responding to the creator's personali

by organic unity. As an architectura

ill-balanced and wildly assymetrical"

premely beautiful in its linking of ~

sculpture and poetry.

The building~ complexity is augmented

number of inscriptions in the form oft

poems. Some are evidence of Cheval's;

")lothing is impossible/To the valiant:

"All that you see, passer-bylls the Wi

Others are in a sombre metaphysical VI

"Life is an ocean full of storms

Between the child just bOrn

And the old man soon to vanish".

The palace has inner chambers linked

but is not habitable. The walls are

scenes in semi-relief, with birds, Shl

other figures described by Cheval as

that one might think one were in a dr'

terrace above, reached by four differ'

cases one can view the whOle work, an.

higher, up the Tower of Barbary, withl

cement palm trees.

He invented a kind of reinforced concrete, modelling the wet mix of lime and cement over a metal skeleton, and into this he pressed small pebbles, fossils or shells, or else applied tree-bark to impart a texture.

There is a notable resemblance between the working method employed by Cheval and the vernacular method of building exemplified by his nearby house which has pebbles embedded in a cement wall.

Cheval was 76 when he completed his palace, a build­ ing 8S' long by about 26' deep and 33' high in places.

It is a curious mixture of styles, its coherence de­ fined mOre by the overall 'feel' of the place, Cor­

It is ohvious that Cheval derived man)

sources other than his individual imaj,

mature years he tried to make up for I

r

I

II

Interior of the Palace

Fro III dreams to reality is a long way".

Ferdinand Cheval 1836-1924

~

on of architectural principles, ng of his fantasy palace, a .iling for 33 years. His family could buy lime and cement and ,ers ridiculed and criticised e of time, money and effort: lone, convinced that his work re him a lasting place in held by stubborness and pride he that Heven a poor pectsant can He had immense powers of en­ 'rking at night with a candle on hree in the morning, regardless failing to complete his delivery reinforced concrete, modelling d cement over a metal skeleton,

ed small pebbles, fossils or d tree-bark to impart a texture. emblance between the working val and the vernacular method d by his nearby house which n a cement

wall~

completed his palace, a build­ 26' deep and 33' high in places. e of styles, its coherence de­ all 'feel' of the place, cor­

cation by reading occasional books and illustrated magazines, and the appearance of some portions of the palace are due to knowledge he gained about f~eign parts. The west facade contains rather self-conscious versions of certain architectural styles that Cheval had learnt about. The Hindu temple, Swiss chalet, White House, Algerian house and th&Medieval Castle are painstaking set-pieces which un favourably compare with the naive novelty of the earlier facades.

Cheval's incredible imagination has left hardly any spot without sculptural decoration. Apart from arch­ itectural details, the decoration includes sculptures of men, animals and plants. The incongruity of style seen in some details set into the larger mass can be explained by the fact of Cheval's habit of rising and executing small portions of the work in the middle of the night, inspired by dreams or visions.

responding to the creator's personality. rather than

by organic unity. As an architectural design it is

ill-balanced and wildly assymetrical, but it is su­

premely beautiful in its linking of architecture,

sculpture and poetry. '

The buildings complexity is augmented by the large

number of inscriptions in the form of mottoes or

poems. Some are evidence of Cheval's self-awareness:

"Nothing is impossible/To the valiant heart" and

"All that you see, passer-by/Is the work of a peasant'~ Others are in a sombre metaphysical vein:

"Life is an OCean full of storms

Between the child just born

And the old man soon to vanish".

The palace has inner chambers linked by a corridor but is not habitable. The walls are covered with scenes in semi-relief, with birds, shepherds and other figures described by Cheval as 'so bizarre that one might think one were in a dream'. On the terrace above, reached by four different stair­ cases one can view the whole work, and also climb higher, up the Tower of Barbary, with its wire and cement palm trees.

On the east facade below a heavily ornamented temple, Cheval dug out a vault in which he hoped to be buried "in the manner of the Pharaohs". (If it was his literal intention to be buried here then permission must have been refused by the authorities). At the other end of this facade is a crypt where Cheval's wheelbarrow, mixing bucket and trowel rest behind locked bars. Outside.the long-legged 'Three Giant~ group towers about 20' tall and is dedicated "A la Fraternite des Peuples". Of all the various' por­ tions of the palace this probably constitutes the

is obvious that Cheval derived many ideas from i It sources other than his individual imagination: in his ll\ature years he tried to make up far his lack of edn­ l

clearest expression of Cheval's impulse towards grandeur. Though smaller, the north facade is sculp­ turally the most fascinating part of the Palace. It consists of a number of little grottoes over which hang layers of little animals assembled from tufa and stones found in the river. (It is significant that many natural grottoes abound in the neighbouring mountain of Vercers).

Cheval spent 20 years or so on these first two facades, which are his finest work- the oth~r two took him about twelve years. He completed his Palais Ideal in 1912, and spent a couple of years pottering around, clearing up the site, planting a garden and proudly showing visitors around, before beginning work in 1914 on the family tomb. This occupies the c~ner right at the entrance to the village cemetry, and is a masterpiece of contorted and interwoven wire-and­

cement shapes. When he died in 1924, at the age of 88, Cheval was buried beneath this writhing mass which he had called 'the tomb of silence and endless rest'.

Fifty years after completion the Palais Ideal still stands, its full and astonishing richness undiminished by time er weather: the magnificent and enigmatic realisation of one man's dream.

"From a dream I have brought forth The Queen of the World".

" !

l dreams to reality is a long way".

Ferdinand Cheval 1836-1924

­

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<01<.' .. ',: .' N" ",I

h ,~~,;~\l~"->

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It

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Cheval's Family Tomb

THE ISLAND

Alan Cook

fhere is an island which lies eight miles west of Belfast between the shores of County Antrim and County Down. Or rather there waS an island until they filled in the canal.

The island is on the River Lagan, below the ridge on which the main part of the town of Lisburn is situated. It was formed in the eighteenth century when the Lagan Canal severed it from County Down.

In 1764, to supply the linen bleaching industry, with chemicals, a Vitroil works was established on the island by Thomas Gregg ana Waddell Cunningham, at a cost of over £3500. These works were quite extensive as their description in 1837 shows: "The island contains between two and three acres and is enclosed from both waters by a stone and lime wall, rather on the castellated style. The dwelling house is commodious and stands two storeys high and slated. The buildings occupied by the above manufactory are tolerably extensive and stand one storey slated: There are nine men at 9.2d. weekly wage each constantly employed in the establishment.

The entire ground is occupied by the dwelling house, office houses, gardens, vitroil works and yards.

On the works stands a very lofty chimney. (An early example of environmental concern as it transmitted noxious gases high above the town). The site and buildings though situated in the County of Down part of Lisburn, form a great ornament to the town".

By the Lisburn was the market town for a rich region, a nodal point and the centre the Linen Industry on the RiVer The town developed strong associations with Industry, the River and the Navigational Canal.

In 1840, shortly after the above description of the Island was written, Samuel Richardson bought it and "built a spinning mill containing 2000 spindles. His brother, Jonathan Joseph, inherited the mill on Samuel's death in 1847 and added 9500 spindles. Such early investment of capital in' spinning mills by bleachers was rare". Later in the century a weaving factory was constructed and worker's houses the County Down side of the Canal were built the Lock-keeper's house. To the present day this area retains its historic significance, represen­ tative of the linen industry at its peak. The mass of two storey buildings dominated by the four storey spinning mill and the chimney, can be viewed from some distance along the riVer valley and link the observer with the trees of nearby Castle Gardens, the spire of Christ Church Cathedral and the dome of the Market House. These four features form the basic historical, industrial and locational land­ marks in Lisburn.

Today however, viewed at close range, the Island presents a much different aspect from what it was eVen a mere decade ago. The canal has been filled

in, outlying buildings lie derelict; only weaving continues on a small scale and the bulk of the land is covered with the cast off debris of the twentieth century. The Island, and land opposite amongst the trees on the Antrim shore, is a dumping ground: the scrap merchant's yard. Oh! yes and the Island, this erstwhile thriving indus­ trial centre, and integral part of Lisburn's heritage this rusting eyesore, is firmly entrenched in the middle of the Lagan Valley Country Park.

If the pianning permission which permits such visible pollution in an area of intrinsic water­ front significance is not revoked, and the main masses of the buildings retained, either as a revitalised industrial base (even for use as ware­ housing) or as an imaginative cultural and social centre for the town and Province, then the people of Lisburn, by sheer neglect, will lose an irreplaceable part of their heritage.

"Here sits industry laurel-crowned, With capital and labour meeting, In union on one common ground Within the world's great marts competing; Where Coulson's damask, Barbour's thread, With Stewart's and the Island spinning, In workmanship the world have led, High honours from the nations winning."

Someon~ must realise the social, recreational and

even economic potential of the Island.

The story does not end there. For the island, though visually at a distance the dominant feature of the Lisburn waterfront, is only part of the physical SCene. Just lies the Quay con­ structed in 1759, where and lighters, from the mid 18th century to changed and deliv­ ered cargoes going to and from Belfast, and points west along the Lagan Navigation Canal. With this activity came warehousing, public houses, dwelling houses and a dry dock, the sale surviving example in Ireland. Connected with the linen industry and the commerce of Lisburn via the Union Bridge and the steeply rising Bridge Street, this waterfront area remains remarkably untouched by the 20th century. The tall trees of Castle Gardens still rise from the water's edge at the dry dock to the top of the Lisburn The familar sights of the stepped houses of Street, the Cathedral and Market House dome, form the skyline to the north. On the County Down side the streets of terraced housing such as Hancock Street, Gregg Street, and Stannus Place, and the intimate lanes, give the area a character of its own with many and varied enclosed views of the river. The Union Bridge upstream and the Island downstream complete the visual enclosure of Lisburn's waterfront.

However all is not well on the waterfront.

The view across the river to the quay and beyond up Quay Street, used to be enclosed at Bridge

Dereliction today

SELF-EXPRESSION - 2 Street by terraced housing. The view now extends aimlessly across a demolition car park to the town's Gasworks.

The houses on the left of Bridge Street, orig­ inally the town's main thoroughfare to Dublin, have been razed to the ground across to Laganbank Road. Gone is Coulson's Damask Weaving factory where in 1764, one hundred years before weavers nationally achieved full time employment, of 500 workmen residing in or contiguous to are daily employed."

The reaSOn for dernclition is not for redevelopment but to clear the way for the coming Lisburn Urban Throughpass. The M.l. motorway failed to relieVe traffic congestion in the streets of the town, so now a shorter by pass is envisaged to circle the south of the town and make it easier and faster for vehicles to mOYe into and around Lisburn. In the process Castle Gardens will be decimated and cut off from the river; the Quay and Quay Street will disappear under the main road as will warehouses, pubs and shops; the dry dock, built by Henry Mulholland in lB37 to enable barge repairs and maintenance and now surrounded by trees in a quiet backwater off the river, will be buried by a slip road; the Union Bridge dating from 1884 will survive but with a new cantilevered top section for four lane traffic- and the 'Down' side, where bUildings are listed or mentioned by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, will be redeveloped.

The effect of a dual carriageway partly elevated with a traffic-lights/slip-road junction at the bottom of Bridge Street is ominous in the extreme.

The wooded Antrim riverside and the Lisburn Quay ar e inexorably head ing f or ext inct ion a s yet a not her decision of subservience to the internal conbustion engine is taken.

But, happily, in the midst of this riot of change which is to befall the Lisburn waterfront and its conmunity, people and their hedonistic tendencies have not been forgotten: I am assured that between the slip-road off the new throughpass and the river there will be a paved promenade with lights! This human scale concrete edging will open up the area for walks (presumably to see the traffic. inhale nice fumes, or look for the ghosts of bargees).

Anyway people love a walk by a river!

The throughpass is corning, but its proposed treat­ ment is reminiscent of the fate suffered by Carrickfergus in the sixties where the inhabitants are forced through tunnels to reach their own con­ cretized and wind-swept sea front. I suggest that the people of Lisburn, if suffer this disruption of an area of interest, deserve a better deal than their friends in Carrickfergus.

Bendhu House.

Paul La!'

As one descends the road from the t,. the harbour of Ballintoy Co.Antrim, an an building comes into view until one is confI'<' 'Bendhu' House, now almost complete after 3, building work.

It started nearly 40 years ago with the bui:. intention to have a small seaside horne, but

veloped over the years into a complex build: builder, now in his 86th first came t,.

Ireland in 1911. He had architectun not practice, deciding that the tedium of oj: was not for him. He enjoyed his years teacll the College of Art and retired at the age oj: his post as Senior Lecturer. He had repeat•. fused offers of Principalship, preferring e"

~""""~-----

...

__

~~_~

.. _ - ­

:he left of Bridge Street, orig­ ,'s main thoroughfare to Dublin, 1 to the ground across to Laganbank Coulson's Damask Weaving factory one hundred years before weavers leved full time employment, "upwards residing in or contiguous to Lisburn >yed." demolition is not for redevelopment le way for the coming Lisburn Urban rhe M.l. motorway failed to relieve cion in the streets of the town, so 'y pass is envisaged to circle the )wn and make it easier and faster for 'e into and around Lisburn. Inthe Gardens will be decimated and cut lver; the Quay and Quay Street will , the main road as will warehouses, ; the dry dock, built by Henry .837 to enable barge repairs and l now surrounded by trees in a , off the river, will be buried by a Union Bridge dating from 1884 will :h a new cantilevered top section for :ic- and the 'Down' side, where Listed or mentioned by the Ulster ieritage Society, will be redeveloped.

Bendhu House.

Paul Larmour

As one descends the winding road from the town to the harbour of Ballintoy in Co. Antrim, an amazing building comes into view until one is confronted by I~endhut House, now almost complete after 35 years build irig work.

It started nearly 40 years ago with the builder's intention to have a small seaside home, but has de­ veloped over the into a complex building. The builder, now in 86th year, first came to Northern Ireland in 1911. He had studied architecture but did not practice, deciding that the tedium of office work was not for him. He enjoyed his years teaching at the College of Art and retired at the age of 55 from his post as Senior Lecturer. He had repeatedly re­ fused offers of Principalship, preferring every-day

sculptures tave a mysterious atmosphere modelled and evocative shapes in a dark mass.

involvement with his students, to purely administra­ tive work.

The building is named 'Bendhu' in deference to the imposing black cliff face of Bendhu Rock which glowers across the small cove to the green outcrop on which the house stands. It is superbly sited and responds to the site's natural ruggedness. In dull weather its dark bulk sits heavily on the site, but with a burst of sunshine playing over it, it comes to life, its surface animated and light. The sculptural effect is produced by the architecture itself; the multi­ faceted appearance determined by the additive building process.

The full effect of the terraced recesses and balcony posts and is most noticeable in bright sun­ light: a prismatic appearance as dazzling as the stepped hexagonal prisms of the Giants Causeway a few miles along the coast. In dull light the

There are two main sculptured features on the building - a 'Neptune' group above the front door and a Phoenix bird burning above a first floor window. Of the Neptune group only three figures have been com­ pleted - a bull symbolising rough seas, a horse sym­ bolising windy seas and a dolphin suggesting calm seas.

Formerly a dragon's head in bronze was attached to one of the taller but this was removed by thieves. The also suffered losses of building materials taken by pilferers and also van­ dalistic damage by children. Recently a stained­ glass window was smashed in by a fist-sized rock.

As well as these outrageous intrusions the builder has always faced strong local resistance to his work. There are those who resent the work because it is not a- 'normal' house because it hasn't slates on the roof or 'proper' windows - and claim that the character of the harbour area is ruined. When looking at the area this house in fact is seen to respond most fittingly to the site. The nearby houses are testimony only to settlement of man in the area while Bendhu House is at once evidence of man's intellect and his regard tor the natural qual­ ities of the landscape. The house is part of the land, part of the coast. In the way that Frank Lloyd Wright's house at Fallingwater created the 'event' there, this house 'makes' the site here.

The building is a labyrinth of roams, with numerous changes of level, and shows ingenuity in much of its layout. There is a lot of use made of built in ward­ robe space with hot water pipes brought through inside each storage unit. Small windows enable good air regUlation and cooking smells are ducted through barely noticeable yet effective vents. At various inside and outside there are taps which will the building in water in the event of a fire outbreak.

i dual carriageway partly elevated -lights/slip-road junction at the

se Street is aninous in the

...

----~

SELF-EXPRESSION - 2 lCed housing. The view now extends lS a demolition car park to the town's

_ _ _ . _ _ _ u_

........

extrane~

eim riverside and the Lisburn Quay heading for extinction as yet another )servience to the internal conbustion l.

Of most interest in the ground floor rooms are painted decorations and decorative wall panelling. In one room there is a circular and star patterned wooden ceiling with signs of the Zodiac depicted in the panel sections. In two other rooms there are single domin­ ant ceiling paintings, notably one which strikingly

in the midst of this riot of fall the Lisburn waterfront and ole and their hedonistic tendencies forgotten: I am assured that between off the new throughpass and the river i paved promenade with lights!

This ~crete edging will open the area sumably to see the inhale look for the ghosts of bargees). love a walk by a river!

nOY""h"~lTS

"Prometheus stealing flame fran Heavent!

~

The

s favourite living area is a single room at first-floor level. This is a prime example of "mini­ mal dwelling" with ingenious and optimum usage of space.

s is coming, but its proposed treat­ scent of the fate suffered in the sixties where the ough tunnels to reach their own con­ ind-swept sea front. I suggest that ~isburn, if they must suffer this in area of such intrinsic interest, er deal than their friends in

\ ,;

The attitude of many observers has been a kind of accusing one: "What a life •.•• idling around all day, adding little bits to the house now and then". It is not realised that this is a demanding task invol­ ving long hours of heavy labour and painstaking atten­ tion to detail. The builder has carried out all work by himself without any making formwork for con­ crete beams, casting laying bricks and in­ stalling the extremely complex plUmbing system. The panelled decoration of the ground floor rooms and the outside sculptures are evidence of artistic skill and craftsmanship, and this element together with the im­ pressive siting makes this building a testimony to its creator's endurance, skill and imagination.

SELF-EXPRESSION - 3 This engaging assembly is on display on a house in Lord Street, off the Albertbridge Road Belfast. When the occupier, Mr. Cecil Bingham retired from farm­ work in Rathfriland and came here nearly four years ago he immediately set about straightening lintels and rendering the facade "just to be different".

The array of objects soon followed.

Mr. Bingham has an collection of delf and chinaware and very furniture inside his house.

Most of this was handed down through his family, but frequently friends and visitors present him with additions. ­ He occasionally rearranges the Objects outside, but happily they are never tampered with by others. A very pleasant man, Mr. Bingham seems to be popular with neighbours.

HOi ABOUT A CITY-JOLK MUSEUM7

John Gilbert:

It's all very well constructing exact replicas of Ulster's cottages, farms, chicken coops and hermitages, but what about us city dwellers? The Ulster Yolk Museum exists to show every Ulster man and woman, as well as the occasional foreigner, just what kind of humble, down on the farm, good old heritage we have. But I never learnt how to milk a cow. Neither did my father, grandfather, great grandfather, nor even my great great grandfather.

1I0w if any of my ancestors were around today, they wouldn't want to go to the stuffy old folk museum; first they'd go to all the poole halls, bright lights of the city, sin palaces, and probably a look over the latest weaponry showing three times daily allover Belfast. It's these everyday artefacts that we forget about, thinking they're too common to take note of. Buildings and their relating ornament and decoration are discarded with as much conscience as one would discard a bus ticket.

Ot the many buildings of the glorious Victorian era (our heritage etc) I have singled out one. It's rather obscure, and not particularly well known, and quite impossible to even enter. To be precise: the Meter house in the gas works, off the Ormeau road. A ~quare plan, red bricked building, which at one time contained the mechanisms which were the very heart of the gas industry in the city.

Internally decorated with rich tilework, mirrors and deep cornices, with life size statues of Mercury and the Queen positioned amongst the machinery.

Onfortunately I couldn't get into the main room of this 'glorified pump house' as the gas works have since lost the key - which can do them no good as they've stored thousands of clay tiles and bricks i~side.

But there is one crack in a window, just b~g enough to push a camera through and glance at the masterpiece in the roof. A glass dome of some considerable size, constructed in a pattern of fish scales, and glazed with hand painted glass (hand painted by the wife of the one time director oi the Gas works:). There are smaller rooms which flank

this central core, and again each or them have smaller glazed domes, with hand painted glass.

Bulldozers don't distinguish between pill boxes and statues of mercury. So my argument is, if it has to go (someone will find a reason for this), then as much of it as possible should be dismantled.

I do not ask that the building be taken down stone by stone, rather that the tilework and the unique fish scale roof be dismantled and ~aken to a place far off. An architectural museum I don't fancy: it would be dead. To see pieces of glasswork and griffins in glass cases would kill the items ' altoge:l:her. But why not keep these items. and ?rnaments, the like of whlch Belfast is throwing ~nto the Lagan everyday, alive, by using them in a new building. Integrating them piecemeal into something like a crafts centre which would be in continuous use, and would be that much more of an attraction if it were made from the craftwork of the past. I might even take my great great grandfather along.

THE VISION OF PAOLO SOLERI

The foreman,who told us he was do in. sociology, threw his arms in the ai • •• "I tell each new batch that com not to do anything too strenuous fo couple of days. Look at the load t trying to lift and in this heat!

He rushed off, leav ing us to explor Paolo Soleri's new city in the dese north of Pheonix. Our first view 0 had been a bit of a surprise. Ther giant mega-structures, no fantastic or Arcoindians. Just a small clust cast structures, still tinted by th used as formwork. The bright co lou: strange patterns and motifs gave th very primitive atmosphere. Student porting rocks in wooden wheelbarrow as if they would fall apart at any : only forms of mechanisation visible were a small crane and a cement mix certainly hadn't the appearance of an architectural concept requiring most advanced technology in the WOr

A's one walks around the site and ta working there one can't help but be their determination and enthusiasm. believe that our civilisation is sl integrating and that an alternative found if we are to survive. Soleri provide one possible solution, and prepared to work in conditions of e: to try and prove them right. Tor S, <;f o~ c~vilisation is the city. r ~nst~tut~ons of the city and their: the natural world which give Man hi: his life meaning. The traditional , longer do this. It has undergone a explosion which has scattered its ~ a wide area. The physical structur, support the complexity and interact: it. Transportation, communication, have all become extremely ineffich mechanical failure of the city has I responsible for the breakdown of it: structure. Soleri believes that th' system on which we base our society at fa~lt: We worship technology, ~ mater~al~sm at the expense of a hu~ The result is that city life has b~ and has degenerated into a mere bat; survival.

Soleri's solution is to provide a n. a philosophy. The two are cClllb: total urban form which will embrace architecture and planning, but also and cultural aspects which contribu; life. Soleri calls this form an lin word coined to describe the fusion' tecture and ecology. Physically an is quite frightening. It is a thre, city, stretching up to a mile high densities of 1000 or more persons/~' Activities take place on many layer been arranged in a hierarchy. At t, w~i,:h is open to the air, are the p' C~v~c spaces. This is the cultural, the city. Arranged around this are' rcial spaces, and then the working the outer wall, or membrane of the are the living units. Thes~ have b: ned so that each inhabitant has dir: contact with Nature. The units are neighbourhoods which are arranged ii ~acing into the centre of the city•. ~nhabitant has easy and direct acce cou~tryside on the outside, and the inSide. There are no cars. Transg on foot, or by lifts or moving pave Under each arcology is a fully auta duction area - fully automated beCa believes that Man should live in tIl and not underground. All waste pr(' cycled, and pollution is minimal, : present at all. The countryside al: arcology is left free for farming ~ tion.

~

SELF-EXPRESSION - 4 In 193~ when a building in Botanic Avenue, Belfast, was be~ng replastered, the plasterer, a Mr. Breen, took it upon himself to embellish the building with his ?Wll designs, in the manner of old English par­ gett~ng of the 16th and 17th centuries.

These traces of his frivolous spirit still remain - flowers leaves ship, dragon, geese with top hat and umbrella ~nd " coats-of-arms that he made up. Shortly after this he emigrated to America.

SELF-EXPRESSION ­ Along the road to Castlerock, outside Coleraine, there are ten semi-detached houses grouped together. Each has its front gate-posts and doorway painted in dif­ ferent patterns and colours: once one person had started to decorate everyone followed, bringing a touch of brightness to pre-war semis on an open windy road.

A picture emerges of a highly orgal very rigid structure. How did Sol, at this form? He believes that th, ment of the city can be compared t( evolution of a biological organism, from a few cells it has become incl more complex, as more and more fun. place within it at the same time efficiently a process of miniatu;i. taken place and the organism has at components so that they are as clo) as possible. Cities should be pIal same way. They shOUld contract an1 enabling their various elements tOl function more efficiently. Once t: s?,u,:ture has been miniaturised thl w~th~n it can integrate into a mar' ful whole. Arcology will foster c: and interdependence among it's im They will become less agressive ownership will be abolished, and w' wbole concept of the consumer soc ii status symbols. A spiritual cultUl a moral code will evolve. This is; main concern. Arcologies are onlYI means by which a complete social r' be brought about. People who crit: arcologies have usually failed to point. They latch unto their trem and high densities and talk of tIl of overcrowding. Soleri is not tn ~orce anyone to live tightly pack., ~n a concrete frame.

Neither is J: suddenly leaving your horne in a tn city and moving out to an arcologr

~~~__~______________________..............................................................................................................................................IIIIIIIIII..

~=-..~·Inlitihie~c~o~u~nt~r~~y~S~i:d:e~b~y~S~O~m~e~g~o~v~e~r~n~n

~~~~--~----------~~----~~~~~--~~--~~======~~ md again each Or them have " with hand painted glass.

THE VISION OF PAOLO SOLERI

;tinguish between pill boxes .rry. So my argument is, if it ',ill find a reason for this), liS possible should be dismantled. [le building be taken down stone at the tilework, and the tlismantled and taken to a 2ctural museum I don't fancy: To see pieces of glasswork and 8ses would kill the items . " not keep thes.e items. and of which Belfast is throwing 'rday, alive, by using them in a :rrating them piecemeal into "fts centre which would be in would be that much more of an "e made from the craftwork of the take my great great grandfather

Brian Grahame

The foreman,who told us he was doing a Ph.D. in sociology, threw his arms in the air and cursed ..• "I tell each new batch that comes out here net to do anything too strenuous for the first couple of days. Look at the load that guy is trying to lift - and in this heat! Excuse me".

He rushed off, leaving us to explore Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri's new city in the desert, 70 miles north of Pheonix. Our first view of the site had been a bit of a surprise. There were no giant mega-structures, no fantastic Hexahedrons or Arcoindians. Just a small cluster of silt­ cast structures, still tinted by the desert soil used as formwork. The colours and strange patterns and place a very primitive atmosphere. Students were trans­ porting rocks in wooden wheelbarrows that looked as if they would fall apart at any moment. The only forms of mechanisation visible on the site were a small crane and a cement mixer. It certainly hadn't the appearance of the site of an architectural concept requiring some of the most advanced technology in the world.

A~

One walks around the site and talks to those working there one can't help but be fired by their determination and enthusiasm. They believe that our civilisation is slowly dis­ integrating and that an alternative must be found if we are to survive. Soleri's theories provide one possible solution, and they are prepared to work in conditions of extreme hardship to try and prove them right. Tor Soleri, the core of our civilisation is the city. It is the institutions of the city and their relationship to the natural world which give Man his dignity and his life meaning. The traditional city can no longer do this. It has undergone a drastic explosion which has scattered its many parts over a wide area. The physical structure can no longer support the complexity and interactions demanded of it. Transportation, communication, servicing etc. have all become inefficient. The mechanical failure of city bas been partially responsible for the breakdown of its social structure. Soleri believes that the value system on which we base our society is equally at fault. We worship technology, economics and materialism at the expense of a human philosophy.

The result is that city life has become sterile and has degenerated into a mere battle for survival.

~

Botanic Avenue, Belfast, a Hr. Breen# building with :he manner of old English par­ ,nd 17th centuries. These traces ,it still remain - flowers, leaves, lith top hat and umbrella and made up. Shortly after this he

stlerock, ou<side Coleraine, there d houses grouped together. Each osts and doorway painted in dif­ colours: once one person had everyone followed, bringing a to pre-war semis on an open windy

Soleri's solution is to provide a new structure and a philosophy. The two are combined into a total urban form which will embrace not only architecture and planning, but also the social and cultural which contribute to a full life. Soleri this form an Arcology, a word coined to describe the fusion of archi­ tecture and ecology. Physically an arcology is quite frightening. It is a three-dimensional city, stretching up to a mile high, and with densities of 1000 or more persons/acre.

Activities take place on many layers, and have been arranged in a hierarchy. At the centre, which is open to the air, are the public and civic spaces. This is the cultural heart of the city. Arranged around this are the come­ rcial spaces, and then the working areas. In the outer wall, or membrane, of the arcology are the living units. These have been ned so that each inhabitant has direct contact with Nature. The units are grouped in neighbourhoods which are arranged in terraces facing into the centre of the city. Thus each inhabitant has easy and direct access with the countryside on the outside, and the city on the inside. There are no cars. Transportation is on foot, Or by lifts or moving pavements.

Under each arcology is a fully automated pro­ duction area - fully automated because Soleri believes that Man shOUld live in the open air, and not underground. All waste products are re­ cycled, and pollution is minimal, if even present at all. The countryside around an arcology is left free for farming and recrea­ tion.

A picture emerges of a highly and very rigid structure. How did arrive at this form? He believes that the develop­ ment of the city can be compared to the evolution of a biological organism. Starting from a few cells it has become increasin more complex, as more and more funct ions place within it at the same time. To work effiCiently a process of miniaturisation has taken place and the organism has arranged it's components so that they are as close together as possible. Cities shOUld be planned the same way. They should contract and intensify enabling their various elements to interact and function more efficiently. Once the city structure has been miniaturised the society within it can integrate into a more meaning­ ful whole. Arcology will foster co-operation and interdependence among it's inhabitants.

They will become less agressive Private ownership will be abolished, and with it the whole concept of the consumer society and status symbols. A spiritual culture based on a moral code will evolve. This is Soleri's main concern. Arcologies are only the physical means by which a complete social revolution can be brought about. People who criticise arcologies have usually failed to grasp this point. They latch unto their tremendo',s size and high densities and talk of the dangers of overcrowding. Soleri is not trying to force anyone to live tightly packed together in a concrete frame. Neither is it a case of suddenly leaving your home in a traditional city and moving out to an arcology already built in the countryside by some government or spec.

L

builder. Arcologies will be built by the people who live in them. They will determine their size, shape and density, and work out their own social structure. Thus, the city will be an expression of their own particular lifestyle.

It's a picture of a utopian society. Soleri appears to have created his own model of reality and then worked out a solution within which it will work. His vision of the future is radically different from most predictions in that he sees it as being relatively stable.

Most observers would agree that we are in a very transient society. Our lifestyle being continually modified by television and mass communications. Fashions change at an alarming rate. We are becoming more and more mobile. Even in architecture the trend is towards adaptability and 'non-buildings' which will meet any requirement. In the face of all this, how is it going to be possible to bring about the permanence on which an ar'CO'LOgV It is a very rigid system. the it supports begins to modify and change, as it must surely do, then life in an arcology would probably become even more chaotic and sterile than it is in a traditional city at the moment. Once the social structure and the physical structure had become incompatible the inhabitants would have to move out and build a new arcology. This is the weakest link in Solari's thesis. If the city can be compared to a biological organism then surely it will continually modify and change it's structUre to accomodate new ideas? We do not have to acquire a new body every time we acquire new knowledge.

I would suggest that arcology is of the transience which typifies our From and other experiments with urban come a better understanding of what our future cities will be like. Perhaps Soleri appreciates this more than anyone else when he says that his designs are not to be inter­ preted literally. It is the ideas behind arcology which are important, and the way Soleri has approached the problem. He is saying that we cannot change our environment by simply changing the shape of our buildings.

A solution will require the integration of many disciplines into a single body. If we can do this we will have taken the first 6ter towards the type of society which Soleri envisages - one based on and mutual respect, rather than and antagonism.

(2) It allows the production of 'Detachable Units,' by the manufacturing industry that can fit into any 'Support Structure' design by proposing a modular co-ordination system with a 100 mm / 200 mm grid. This incorporates the basic module of 100 mm and the preferred international module of 300 mm.

The introdu~tion of the 'Support Structures' concept will involve a complete reorganisation of housing design and management, and it is here that the problems arise, with the unwillingness of the authorities to change their ways. However, the advantages of the concept to the authorities as well as to the dweller are enormous. The individual can have a dwelling that suits his particular needs and adapts to his changing life style e.g., larger family, new hobbies etc. He can also keep his dwelling up to date by his detachable units for more advantages should also appeal to the modern ones.

Housing Authorities since the 'Support Structure' being a long term investment, can overcome the Dr~£'iE,m5 of redevelopment and renovation. As housing standards change then can be re-equipped without major changes or disruption of community life. Allocation of houses would also be fairer, since any size of family could be catered for in a support; the economics of 'Support Structures' must also be considered. Since most time spent on house­ building is during the finishing trades, any saving here by factory production techniques must represent a reduction in costs. Problems at the design stage­ as to what type of accommodation to provide would be overcome, and the dilemma of the architect designing for a client (dweller) he does not know would not have to be faced. The architect's role would be that of designing for possibilities of use.

The most disappointing aspect of S.A.R.'s work is that after some seven or eight years developing the principles, design methodolOgy, pilot projects etc., there is still no 'Support Structure Project' that is in fact under construction or in use, although developments in the near future are promised.

S.A.R., being a foundation for research, is not in a po~ition to develop 'Supports' by itself but is trying to housing authorities and develop­ ers. There has some interest shown by these groups, but as stated above, any change of role or management teChnique is always greeted with consider­ able suspicion. I feel that if the whole thing had been given a more political basis - by enlisting the help of housing associations and tenant groups­ more progress could have been made.

S.A.R. sees its role as one of adviser and consult­ ant to arChitects interested, and certainly Habraken and his team are very keen to promote the concept, and a considerable amount of time has been devoted to preparing an audio-visual course on 'Support Structure' philosophy and design methodology.

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect ot the work is

the support that the concept has received from the

manUfacturing industry. The most important advances

have been made by Bruyinzeel, one of Holland's

largest companies, who have set up an imDressive

research and development department at

headquarters, north of Amsterdam. It seems signifi­

cant that such a company based largely on commercial

interests is prepared to invest so considerably in

such a new venture. Other companies too have

become involved - in England, Dupont Ltd. and

British Gypsum are also working on the production

of detachable units in co-operation with PSSHAK in

their work for the G.L.C.

'SUPPORTS' CONCEPT IN HOUSING

Harry Porter

The work of N. Habraken and Stichting Architectron Research (S.A.R.) has been going on for some years now at Eindhoven in Holland. S.A.R. with Habraken as Principal is an independent foundation set up with the backing of some 30 leading architectural offices to research into new possibilities for housing.

What S.A.R. proposes is a new housing process in which the dweller is involved and in which he can accept responsibility for his dwelling. In the current mass-housing process all decisions about the dwelling are made by the so called specialists­ planners, architects, housing managers etc. - and do not relate to individual requirements, but to the mythical 'Mr. Average Tenant'. To overcome this problem S.A.R. introduces the concept of "Support Structures" and "Detachable Units".

The 'Support' is a structure which provides the' tenant with the possibility 'of making a dwelling.

It is concerned with all the community aspects of the dwelling i.e. it provides the necessary services, access and structural elements - floors, support walls etc. and offers many possibilities to the tenant to make a dwelling to suit his particular requirements.. The 'Detachable Units' are the space-dividing elements which allow the tenant to divide the 'Support' to suit his particular needs at any stage of his t~nancy. The division of the tenant's ar~a in the 'Support' is his own responsibility and it is envisaged that detachable units will become a mass produced factory element which the tenant can exchange for a more modern unit in the same way as he might acquire furniture. The choice and position Q~ detachable units rests entirely with the tQAant.

A design methodology to design 'Suppo~' and 'Detachable Units' has been evolved ~y S.A.R. and includes two main features.

(1) It provides a means of evaluating the possibilities of use of a 'Support Structure' w~thout specifying detailed floor plans, using a system of zones and margins.

The real benefit of the 'Supports' cannot

be judged until structures have been and

actually liVe in them. Judgment must be

on more than just one or two and

observation made over a period of some to 10 years

so that a true picture of how the dwellers use

'Supports and Detachable Units' can be built up.

Unless several different 'Support Structure' are developed then their is to become stereotyped and as

such. What must be realised is, that what S.A.R.

propose is not a building system and that in the

design of the structure the architect is entirely

free to decide on layout, materials, spans etc.,

in the same way as he does t ,yo

In London the 'Support Structures' concept has

been developed by PSSHAK in a p ',ot project for

the G.L.C. at Stamford Hill. f_ ,1 approval for

this scheme has been obtained and work will be

starting shortly. PSSHAK have been working within

the confines of Parker Morris and the housing cost

yardstick, and although these limitations restrict

the choice a little, meaningful variations are

still possible.

Hany criticisms have been levelled at the concept, mainly I feel because of a lack of understanding.

What must be realised is that a great deal of work still needs to be done with ment of the detachable units the conc~p~s potential benefits to the people who really ,tlatter - the dwellers. Can it really be argv~u that a housing process which takes into aorvunt the tenant at a personal level and which rdn meet changing requirements and standards over a long period of time, might not be a better process than that which exists tOday?

Brett of Belfast Scott of Dublin Men of Buildings Arts and Parts Feelings feelings Georgian ceilings Landscape streetscape Cattlemarts EO Evans

HEARTrELT LETTER

mOM

A LUCKY (?) GRADUATE

Renaissance-revival style. largely in the direction of turther simplicity, a result of ~odifications consequent upon new methods of construction.

Many large buildings that were conceived before the war were carried out after the war according to the original designs with little mofification. To 'traditional' architects the war was just a break; it effected no change in their architectural thought.

Most large buildings erected in the early post-1st World War period and designed in Classical or Renaissance style were constructed with a steel frame and faced with stone or brick, This essential difference from the Renaissance buildings of the 17th and 18th centuries is not apparent in their appearance. Often there is the massive, often somewhat heavy, effect associated with the use of stone in Renaissance architecture, with a particular affection for rusticated masonry. An example in Belfast is the original Ulster MuseUll!, Stranmillis Road, designed in 1911 by J.C. Wynne of Edin;)urgh, and built in the mid 20's.

"I thougflt I vas a cynic but even I

Il<lS

disillusioned"

When I look lor a job as an architect I expect to be told that I mua:t: have experience; that I can't have experience until I get some; and that I can't get some until I have some; that if I haven't got the knack at leasi: I must have the knack of lying about it. I expect to be rejected because I don't inter­ ject with enough words like "bargeboard", "prime cost sum" and "contractors negligence". What I do not expect. but which grieves me most is to be told what I was told yesterday: "Tell us about yourself". they said; "show us some of your schemes", whereupon I opened myself up and was that which one shouldn't be •••• honest.

Various things came out •••• architects didn't always seem to put the right priorities first; the schemes I had designed could well be improved upon, nay, I would do them quite differently now; the values aimed for in them - what Jameson calls the 'Minerva Syndrome, the striving after a strong visual 'idea, coherence, high originality etc., above everything else - are things I would now question. "I see", they said, "Would you like to leave the room for a few minutes?".

"Come in. have a seat. Well, Mr. Thompson. It's obvious to US that you are an intelligent young man and would quickly pick up what you lack in the way of experience. However, what we look for most in young prospective employees is keenness - which you seem to lack. You don't seem to argue the case for your designs convincingly enough. I don't think you have' that 'flair' - the ability to inject that indefinable 'something' into a scheme which makes it 'architecture'. I think you lack the right kind of sensitivity. However, fill in this application form and we'll bear you in mind if something else turns up". rill in a form? That ordeal which is difficult to apply oneself to at the best of times. I could scarcely ~ let alone move. But in the end, you know, Marje, they were right. And why?

Because onee they said that •••• and they were no cheapskate oddjob men but a highly respected public sector group •••• once they said that, I wasn't at all keen: In fact, if that's all there is to Architecture, I want no part of it.

Gerry Thanpson BIG A GOES 'INTERNATIONAL' Dear friends:

I red in AD' September some information about Big A,

Please !!!! can you send me a copy'I'mvery inter­

ested because I study Architecture in the old way and

1m bored of it.

Thank you, Hector A. Patrucco Lima 120 Cordobe Argentina

It was clearly the aim of traditional architects to perpetuate impressive and dignified Renaissance and Classic architecture, and with such an airr. it was impossible that they would create a vital and living art. The steel frame construction was employed, presumably not from architectural conviction, but becaU5e it allowed some reduction of bulk and becaU5e of the commercial consideration that the steel frame is a much more rapid method of construc­ tion. Of course it is impossible to deny certain valuable architectural qualities in such work: designing ability is displayed on the adaptation of the classic style to the building problem. The types of building that were designed in the classic style were town-halls, office blocks, particularly banks and insurance offices, muselDDs and department stores. In such buildings of a partially ceremonial character~which were being designed in the traditional classical Renaissance style, the steel frame on~y very graaually affected the appearance o:f the building. in ])lany facades it determined the essential There are iden~ifiable certain stages of the steel frame's emergence - where it is faintly apparent, where it becomes more and where the decorative character of the emanates mainly from the steel frame. The transition is accompanied by elimination of ornament and a greater simplicity in the general effect.

The :first stage is demonstrated by Woolworths, High Street. designed in 1929 by Woolworths Construction Department of Liverpool. The pilasters that form the prominent decorative feature of the facade have t>eeome simpler, and horizontal bands appear between the windows in the recesses formed by the pilasters.

Imperial Buildings, Donegall Square East. designed in 1935 by Kendrick Edwards shows only a faint suggestion of pilasters. The facing of the horizontal stanchions has come forward and the gridiron pattern forms a decorative basis for the facade. The overall design is still determined by classical symmetry and proportion. Office premises at Opper Donegall Street designed in 1937

by Gamble, Hayward and Maxwell, has a facade that is partially an expression of the method of frame construction. Renaissance and classical features :)ave disappeared completely from the upright.

Parallel with 'traditional' work and with the avante-garde work of certain architects on the continent, a certain brand of modernism had also grown up, deriving from the Paris Exposition of Arts held in 1925. Nowadays this parallel style is referred to under the terms 'Art-Deco' or 'Modeme' or 'Jazz Age Modern'. It lacked a consistent programme as a design style and so has been virtually ignored by architectural historians, although it gained a world-wide currency and a measure of popular success. It incorporated many decorative features that would have been anathema to the Functionalists, including zigzag surface patterns, curved corner details, elaborate ship-prow embellishments, and the employment of materials with mirror surfaces, quite often black finished.

The cumulative effect of this kind of modernism was negligible and for most 'serioU5' architects and critics of the 30's-it was considered 'not quite' architecture.

A 'moderne' styling trend popular in America in the years 1925-35, was the 'step' form,or a type of pyramidal build-up of elements of the facade.

Popular sources were found in the stepped shape of Aztec temples, often with a neo-Egyptian detailing. The style was very fashionable, 'lnd a popular one for buildings on promUtent corner sites.

In Belfast some huUdingf> display SOU1ething of these characteristics.

Sinclair's department store, designed in 1935 by

J. Scott, is a notable example of step-form, with a THE INTER-liAR YEARS IN BELrAST

Paul Larmour

British architecture between the wars does not get much mention in standard text books. AVante-garde developments occurred on the continent while Britain for the most part pursued the classic tradition which became modified as the steel frame emerged. 'Modern' architecture was accepted only gradually.

However, some interesting designs and features appeared and are worthy of note. This essay is not offered as a critical evaluation or as a history of the period. Rather it is an attempt to briefly thrOw some light on what has usually been regarded as a dark age in British architecture.

In the period just before the 1st World War, most architecture was a continued development of

jazzy pattern of the ceramic~ flanking the clock on the built-up parapet. In the same year T. Dalton Purdy designed additions to the Metropole Hotel (now furniture showrooms) occupying the corner where Upper Donegall Street and York Street meet.

This too has a raised parapet at the corner, though less elaborate.

The Bank of Ireland Buildings, Royal Avenue, designed in 1928 by McDonnell and Dixon of Dublin has its top storey recessed from the main facade, but with a step-form corner clock tower as a climax.

The gilted ornamentation in the door and window panels is in 'Art Deco' style. The 'Donegall Chambers' block (containing Cook's Travel Agency).

Donegall Place, is similarly stepped back at the uppermost level, with a prominent central tower feature. Being more bulky and being faced with grey stone, it is less striking in appearance than Bank of Ireland Buildings. The negative process of eliminating tradition"l ct'llf'::; <1n,~ 0!'nnmcnt was often

the more positive process of searching expression. The most obvious subjects were revealed in the growing tendency to express structure and to give character by emphasis­ the general form of the building. Probably the reasons for the vertical emphasis of buildings such as the Bank of Ireland, were the influence of the steel structure, the desire to give character by emphasising form, and the formal influence of the American skyscraper.

Although often ignored by critics and historians who have USUally attempted to assess their contribu­ tion in terms of the tenets of "modern architecture", and dismissed by hard-line functionalists as catch­ penny designers who produced buildings that were far from architecture, cinema architects of the 30's gave characteristic "style" to their buildings, and often achieved a happy marriage of interior and exterior. By the 30's the old-time eclecticism in cinema-building (seen in the Clonard Picture House, ralls Road, of 1914) - was 'out' and the "moderne" was·in~ The ABC cinema (formerly Ritz), designed in 1935 by Kemp and Tasker of London, occupies an important corner site in Gt. Victoria Street. and has some of the typical elements of the famous Harry Weedon's Odeolls designed during the 1934-39 Super Cinema Era. There is the vertical tower feature with projecting vertical fin, faience panel facing, and long horizontals of banded tiles and of the entrance canopies sweeping along both street facades. There is also Art Deco detailing in the plasters between the windoW& on the Grosyenor Road :facade. At the GreYe Theatre, j'o;rnlerly:I'roxy Cineu>a, Shore Road, there is a glass. tower feature,~and at the Astoria!

Upper Ne.townards Road, the tiled lacade has a step-form build-up of the parapet. Their architects succeeded in making the super cinema the temple of the 30's.

Certain buildings display details characteristic of

the period: the Mountpottinger Cinema has a zigzag

pattern on its coloured glass window above the

entrance. An interlacing zigzag pattern is seen on

the frieze decoration on the 'facade of Burton's

Store in Ann Street, designed in 1932 by Burton's

Architects' Department of Leeds. The coloured

glazing of the Stranmillis Road shop "Louise" seems

to relate to 'curved' Art Deco motifs, while the

small upper panels of crystalline glazing of the

ground-floor windows of the pavilion section of

Bradbury Buildings seem to relate to the more

'spiky' motifs. This delightful building in

Bradbury Place was designed as shops, offices and

living quarters by J.D. Gordon in 1932. In the

same year Sam Stevenson and Sons designed the

distinctive chromium decoration of State Buildings,

Arthur Street. The source would appear to be the

pavilions at Expo. '25 in Paris, after which all

sorts of decorative fancies appeared. The pretty

decoration above the ground-floor shop doorways is

very similar to gilded wrought iron grill work by

the rrenchman, Edgar Brandt. In the foyer, wood

panelling has a mild zigzag pattern.

House, Malone Rd.

Doneg~

Occasionally modernistic elements appeared on private houses - on the Malone Road one house has an expressionistic projecting triangular staircase window. this is reminiscent of the staircase window of 'New Ways' designed by Behrens in Northampton in 1926. Modernistic detailing appears on the buttress­ e~ and on the apex of the facade of the King's Hall, L1sburn Road, but these are the only concessions to styling in this powerful of engineer's architecture, designed in

by Leitch and Partners of Glasgow. Reinforced concrete was used for the wide span, whilst maximum daylight was afforded by stepped clerestory glazing.

In the general movement towards simplicity the plain wall WaS more and more apparent as an effective part of design, and this was particularly so with the brick wall. Botanic Primary School, 1936, designed

by R.S. Wilshere, architect to Belfast Education Committee, is interesting, successfully combining plain surfaces of red brick with a long strip of high level glazing and tall corner glazin~: a carefully composed blend of Dudok and Bauhaus.

Two works by John MacGeagh show very decisive USe of brick. These are the l'lasonic Hall, Crumlin Road. o:f 1938 and the Sir William Whitla Hall, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, of 1939. quiet and refined buildings expressing scholarly taste. Both consist of well disposed elements on areas of plain brick. The straightforwardly simple lines of the columns of Botanic Primary School appear in the doorway of the Masonic Hall, with only the slightest of embellishment. This hall and the Whitla display sculpted stone panels and occasional decoration, adornments becoming of the ceremonious nature of the buildings.

A short distance from the Whitla is the David Keir Building on the Stranmillis Road. This huge science block for Queen's University Belfast was designed bV Lanchester and Lodge of London just before the ~d World War and so was not built until the 1950's.

It is a steel framed building, essentially modern and utilitarian in purpose, but clothed in neo­ Georgian suavity. The tall twin stair-towers are reminiscent of those of Herbert Rowse's Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, also finished in brick. The deliberate and formal composition gives the Keir an imposing monumentality, aided by bold expression of elements such as the stair-towers, rather than by application of Classical paraphernalia.

The years of peace closed with the as-yet unheeded plea in 1938,by the Belfast architect Mr. Denis O'D.Hanna!for a great national architectural movement. He presented the idea that all the aims and findings of architects in the country ought to be pooled and directed to the designing of something that would correspond with the native spirit, claiming that a modern architect was one who could see romance in his own age and in the future, and whose spiritual experience is continually growing.

Botanic Primary Schoc

•

more positive process of searching «pression. The most obvious aled in the growing tendency to and to give character by emphasis­ ':'Ill of the building.

Probably the .le vertical emphasis of buildings 7 Ireland, Were the influence of ,~, the desire to give character by and the formal influence of the ~.

',red by critics and historians :tempted to assess their contribu­ .Ie tenets of "modern architecture", xrd-line functionalists as catch­ , produced buildings that were far .cinema architects of the 30's , "style" to their buildings, and IPPY marriage of interior and 10's the old-time eclecticism in ,seen in the Clonard Picture House, J - was 'out' and the "moderne" lnema (formerly Ritz). designed Tasker of London, occupies an Ite in Gt. Victoria Street, and ;ical elements of the famous Harry :igned during the 1934-39 Super :is the vertical tower feature with fin, faience panel facing, and banded tiles and of the entrance llong both street facades. There Itailing in the plasters between 'Groayenor Road Iacade. At rhe Ilerly .l'roxy Cinema, Shore Road, ~r ~eature,.and ax the Astoria, ~ad, the tUed facade has a of the parapet. Their arch.Ltects ;t the super cinema the temple of Usplay details characteristic of mtpottinger Cinema has a zigzag 'ured glass window above the .'lacing zigzag pattern is seen on ,on on the facade of Burton's :, designed in 1932 by Burton's lent of Leeds. The coloured lIlI1Iillis Road shop "Louise" seems ,d' Art Deco motifs, while the .of crystalline glazing of the IS of the pavilion section of ,seem to relate to the more ,is delightful building in ,designed as shops, offices and ,J.D. Gordon in 1932. In the mson and Sons designed the ~ decoration of State Buildings, , source would appear to be the '25 in Paris, after which all , fancies appeared. The pretty le ground-floor shop doorways is .ded wrought iron grill work by ~ Brandt.

In the foyer, wood .d zigzag pattern.

Ulster Museum

Sinclair's Store

House, Malone Rd.

Donegall St.

Woolworths

Grove Theatre

ABC

Cinema

.istic elements appeared on I the Malone Road one house has projecting triangular staircase .iniscent of the staircase window ~ed by Behrens in Northampton in detailing appears on the buttress­ of the facade of the King's Hall, hese are the only concessions to erful piece of engineer's ned in 1933 by Leitch and Reinforced concrete was used ~hilst maximum daylight was clerestory glazing.

Burton's Store

.6.

i

l r ,

~

nent towards simplicity the plain ~re apparent as an effective part was particularly so with the : Primary School, 1936, designed echitect to Belfast Education ~sting, successfully combining ~d brick with a long strip of md tall corner glazing: a ,lend of Dudok and Bauhaus.

IcGeagh show very decisive use the Masonic Hall, Crumlin Road, William iihitla lIall, Queen's University Road, of 1939, rlldings expressing scholarly : of well disposed elements on t. The straightforwardly simple J of Botanic Primary School Iy of the Masonic Hall, with only .ellishment. This hall and the .ted stone panels and occasional ltG becoming of the ceremonious .ngs.

t....

!

Metropole Hotel

Imperial House

Donegall Chambers

B. of Ireland Buildinas

om the Whitla is the David Keir anmillis Road. This huge science niversity Belfast was designed ~dge of London just before the 90 was not built until the 1950's.

1 building, essentially modern ?UrpOse, but clothed in neo­ fhe tall twin stair-towers are ~ of Herbert Rowse's Liverpool ;lso finished in brick. The il composition gives the Keir tality, sided by bold expression the stair-towers, rather than lassical paraphernalia.

'losed with the as-yet unheeded Belfast architect Mr. Denis it national architectural lted the idea that all the aims litects in the country ought to :edto the designing of something ld with the native spirit, !rn architect was one who could ~ age and in the future, and ,rience is continually growing.

Botanic Primary School

Sir W. h11itla Eall

Crumlin Rd. t1asonic Hall

Keir Building

'

TURKISH TRAVELS

Sam McBride

The end of Trinity Term 1971, found me with a Land­

rover of my own and vague notion of going to the

Atlas Mountains, the Sahara or some other suitably

sun-drenched paradise.

In conversation Robin Wylie mentioned archaeology in Turkey and the fact that two guys, Allwyn Riddell and Gerry Hall intended going to an excavation in Eastern Turkey. Over a few jars in Laverys we de­ cided to join forces. Allwyr. had already worked on the site the pr""ious year and had formed some ideas of how our skills could be readily applied. I was lucky enough to obtain a grant from the Academic Council, so with what seemed a minimum of fuss we found ourselves on the Le Havre ferry.

ICEBAN

The 'dig' was part of the Keban rescue operations,

instituted by the Turkish Government, to survey and

rescue as much as possible of the material which

will be covered by the construction of a huge dam

designed to supply the industries of Western Turkey

with power. The British Institute of Archaeology

at Ankara was allocated eight sites grouped in and

around the village of Asvan Which lies on the banks

of the Euphrates 40 kilometres N.W. of Elazia.

Of these sites the largest is a kale or mound on the fringe of the modern village - a feature common to many of the villages of Anatolia. Four of the sites have been excavated showing that settlement dates from the 14th century AD. back to fifth or sixth millennia. Periods of habitation overlap but do not run concurrently.

THE ASVAN PROJECT The project was initiated using these sites as 'guinea pigs' in an attempt to meet the changing theories and methodology of modern archaeology. We hoped to relate the work and results of interested disciplines using a stated theme as a cohesive ele­ !!lent, adopting the view that information is largely collected with pre-existing, pre-conceived frameworks and only as such may it be pertinently and econaoi­ cally co-ordinated. Our central theme was the study of man's occupation,exploitation and manipUlation of the environment within the region. We were concerned less with general laws of behaviour than with speci­ fic instances - less with the 'why' and more with the 'what' and 'how'.

SURVIVAL - REVIVAL - DERIVAL

j);wid Evans

In the early days of the bombing campaign the structure of the buildings was not substantially damaged, all that happened was that the architec­ ture got blown off and students could study exploded sections of canopy details and infil panels. However with a growing expertise on the part of the bombers the buildings themselves began to suffer and many of our streets today have the gap-toothed look of someone who has been in a fight. Surviving buildings have "transposeat" latticing over their windows as a precaution against flying glass, which gives them a fuzzy look and the use of mirrored glass is a very discon­ certing Msgritte-like effect. However the social­ ly responsible architect has to develop a differ­ ent approach and aesthetic in the design of new buildings. Ideally windows should get narrower, preferably slit-type and parapets raised and crenellated. I can forsee the expedient of mac­ hiciolated battlements and battered bases being employed to make the buildings further defensible, together with a possible revival of moat, draw­ bridge and portcullis. The best line of defence however lies in the siting of the building. It should not be overlooked and it should have open space surrounding it; landscaping should be reduced to a minimum: any planting should be rest~_ rioted to ground cover as anything over 6" (I'm sorry 150 rom) could be potentially dangerous. I'm told that a Georgian mansion in the West of Ireland, in times gone by, became hazardous to the occupants as snipers could easily pick them off through the large areas of window, and the owners consequently modified the style of the house to Gothic with lancet windows which made them much safer. The style of a building truly reflects the social climate; our latest blocks of flats appear increasingly defensive and it looks as if We will develop a heavy, long life aesthetic with a return to seige-mentality architecture and the revival of the Gothic revival.

TH.ljYK5 iGOR:

The collection of data came from two sources ­ excavation and from studies of the modern region.

In the latter we initiated most of the studies in Our first season by preparing maps of the region and plans of the village ( - all good Empire stuff with pink gin and pith hats) which we recorded basic data on geology, communications. irrigation, landuses, artefacts etc. In the village we located houses, gardens, threshing floors and other items of specific interest.

During the second season we cOlllllenced the task of identifying and recording the various systems operating within the various areas on a basic spatial hierarchy - house, complex, village region. In one such study we attempted to relate the wealth and occupation of the family to the houses they own - a basic gauge of activities related to house form.

THE VILLAGE The village and its houses are typical of Anatolia

and Hear Eastern peasant communities consisting of

mud-brick adobe type houses blending into the lands­

cape from which they are made. The pattern of the

village and its life seems almost biblical, if not

timeless.

These simple houses, built of stone, mud and peeled logs only~ provide shelter against the heat of summer often 120 F. and the snows of winter which may exceed 2 metres. Planning is left entirely to the owners but though all are of the same materials and basic design features are the same. these very points serve only to heighten their individuality. There must be a moral somewhere. fURTHER TRAVELS Apart from the usual drive across Turkey via Ankara, \(ayseri and Malatya I also took the opportunity to travel a little to the North and Eastern borders. In company with three mad ornithologists and a freelance historian, I journeyed over the Munzur Mountains to the 'Greek' city of Trabzon established by Hellenistic traders on the Black Sea coast. From there we tra­ velled north along the coast, exploring the beautiful valleys filled with tea gardens, hazel groves and trout streams, and finally at the Russian border back into the mountains through the land of the Kurds to storied \(ars. From \(ars we visited Ani, an ancient city, long deserted, which straddles the Turko-Russian border. Standiijg amongst the walls with their round cornered rectangular towers, looking distinctly trendy one is left to gaze at the glories of the past reduced to rubble and to ponder on the very irrele­ vance of the present border. From here our route lay to Mt. Ararvat, around Salty Lake Van, through the Anti Taurus, the Taurus and finally the SW. coast.

I unfortunately was not able to get to Van but I can thoroughly recaomend the SW. coast especially around Antalya and smaller towns like Cas. This area must surely be amongst the next to fall to commercialisa­ tion so my advice is get there quick.

FINALLY All these places and things require a much mare pictorial treatment and I hope to get together some slides for next term. Meanwhile anyone inter­ ested in such escapades may like to know that there are some vacancies this summer in Israel.

An early work by the master with no exterior plaster an odd aberration suggesting frustration or even the teething of Nash Letter from The Chainnan CIf Toytown Estates (Regina Ent erprises ) Dear Big A, I think the moment has arrived to revue Toytown's proud achievement in the battlefield of architectural progress. We have not let the grass grow under our feet or anywhere else for that matter. Sane of you may have been wondering what wet've been up to bear­ ing in mind our policy of absolute secrecy. We have been relentlessly pursuing the removal of use­ less and even old buildings constituting architec­ tural eyesores that litter our campus. I would refer you to our proud record in this lield, or rather desert, by naming for example the Deaf and Dumb Institute, a building which had nothing to say for itself anyway. Our future plans include the elimination of other eyesores including the Old Library, most nice buildings up the Malone Road, the shanty town of Lennoxvale and the Chlorine ghetto.

In all honesty we must sadly confess to a few fai­ lures in the region of Mount Charles, and of course the church that got away. However, on a happier note we have managed to endow the city with such notable gems as the New Staff Club and the Computer in College Green. By sensitive carscaping and auto­ planting of areas around buildings (such as the base of the Old Library) we have helped to improve the visual character of our campus; after all we must think rather of indeterminate building complexes which can expand and coalesce organically.

We have found it economically advantageous to follow a policy of 'moulder and demolish' in that we buy up habitable property, empty it, board it up and sit back.

But to finish on an optimistic note I think we may congratulate ourselves upon our proud record of up­ holding the University's traditional role of champions of civilised values against mere materia­ lism.

You~ and Yours UGC Fitzperfectly

the hypothesis of the computer analysed model fl ts the critlcol path standardised archetype perfec tty ~ .. now··

I'LL HAVE THE ASH)! RIPPLE

.:L::lO ~,I 11 5300 l"V'H1

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